Damian McBride

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date he last met Mr Damian McBride in the course of his official duties.

Peter Hain: I have not met Mr. McBride in either 2008 or 2009. Prior to that Mr. McBride was occasionally present at meetings I attended in the course of my ministerial duties in 2006-07.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of employees in his Department  (a) are on a flexible working contract,  (b) are on a job share employment contract and  (c) work from home for more than four hours a week.

Peter Hain: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Wales Office has 7 per cent. (four staff members) of its staff on a flexible working contract.
	 (b) None are on a job share employment contract.
	 (c) One member of staff (2 per cent.) works from home for more than four hours per week.

Departmental Manpower

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of employees in his Department are  (a) women and  (b) men; and what the average hourly pay is of (i) male and (ii) female employees.

Peter Hain: Women constitute 52 per cent. of the Wales Office work force. Collectively their average hourly rate of pay is £17.54, the average hourly rate of male staff is £19.24.

Departmental Responsibilities

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the executive functions of his Department are.

Peter Hain: Most of the executive functions which were the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Wales before 1 July 1999 have been transferred to the Welsh Assembly. The Secretary of State for Wales retains joint responsibility for approving a range of appointments, makes certain election orders for Wales and continues to have responsibility for royal matters, which includes holding the programme budget for Lord Lieutenants.
	The work of the Wales Office is described in detail in its annual reports to Parliament.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, column 807W, on departmental electronic equipment, how much his Department has spent on  (a) flat screen televisions,  (b) DVD players and  (c) stereo equipment since November 2008.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office purchased one flat screen television since November 2008 at a cost of £341 as a replacement for a set which was no longer functioning.
	All expenditure has to be incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what expenditure the Commission for Equality and Human Rights incurred on legal action against  (a) private and  (b) public sector organisations in each of the last two years.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has recorded a spend of £230,868 in 2007-08 and £320,819 in 2008-09 (both including VAT) on external legal costs associated with strategic enforcement litigation carried out in relation to private and public sector organisations.
	It is not possible to provide a breakdown of expenditure in terms of public and private sector, as the EHRC does not record expenditure in this way.

Departmental Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2009,  Official Report, column 984W, on departmental internet, what the  (a) names and  (b) versions are of the web browsers used on the (i) desktop machines and (ii) laptop computers used by the (A) Director General, (B) chief information officer, (C) head of communications and (D) head of finance of the Government Equalities Office.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office uses Microsoft Internal Explorer as its web browser application. The current version in use is v 6.0.3790.1830. This version is used by all staff on both desktop and laptop computers.

Yorkshire and the Humber Select Committee

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission 
	(1)  which witnesses travelled to attend the planned meeting of the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Select Committee in Leeds; what expenses relating to such travel have been met by the House; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what expenditure on  (a) accommodation,  (b) travel by Committee members and staff and  (c) other expenses the House has incurred in respect of the meeting of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Select Committee which was expected to take place in Leeds but which did not do so because the Committee was inquorate.

Nick Harvey: The witnesses who travelled to Leeds for this meeting were Richard Wightman, president of Yorkshire and Humber Chambers of Commerce; David Wilson, Engineering Employers Federation; Tony Cherry, national vice-chairman, Federation of Small Businesses; and Andrew Palmer, regional director, Confederation of British Industry. No claims for travel expenses have been received from the prospective witnesses. The costs for staff accommodation were £317.95, and for staff travel were £1,115, in both cases for five staff. Other costs, including the hire charge for the room, were £137.

BAE Systems

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Solicitor-General what investigations the Serious Fraud Office has conducted into BAE Systems since January 2004.

Vera Baird: There have been four investigations conducted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into BAE Systems plc. All four investigations began on 14 July 2004. The SFO decided to discontinue the investigation into the affairs of BAE Systems plc.—as far as they relate to the Al Yamamah defence contract with the Government of Saudi Arabia—on 14 December 2006. The other three investigations continue.

Complaints

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what the policy and procedures are of  (a) the Treasury Solicitor and  (b) the Law Officers for handling complaints made against their legal staff.

Vera Baird: Complaints received from members of the public about legal staff in the Law Officers' Departments are dealt with according to each Department's individual procedure.
	The underlying principle is that there is a tiered system of oversight starting at the local level, progressing, if the complainant remains dissatisfied, to a nominated senior lawyer in that Department. After a Department's own procedure has been concluded the complainant can write to the Attorney General's Office for it to consider whether the complaint was handled fairly, sensitively and in confidence, and that each concern raised has been appropriately dealt with.

Corruption

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Solicitor-General how many requests from foreign jurisdictions relating to allegations of overseas corruption offences the Mutual Legal Assistance Unit of the Serious Fraud Office has received in the last 10 years; from which jurisdictions such requests have come; and how many such requests have resulted in domestic investigations since 2001.

Vera Baird: It would incur disproportionate cost to identify the number of requests received from foreign jurisdictions by the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) Mutual Legal Assistance Unit over the last 10 years.
	The SFO does not disclose details of assistance provided to overseas investigations without consent from the referring jurisdiction or unless the referring jurisdiction has made public disclosures.
	Since 2001, only two requests for assistance involving corruption from overseas jurisdictions have resulted in domestic investigations being opened by the SFO. One of these investigations is ongoing, while the other was discontinued in June last year.

Corruption

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Solicitor-General what criteria the Serious Fraud Office applies in deciding whether to investigate an allegation of overseas bribery.

Vera Baird: The key criterion used by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) when deciding whether to accept a case is that the suspected fraud or corruption appears to be so serious or complex that its investigation should be carried out by those responsible for its prosecution.
	Other factors taken into consideration when deciding whether to accept a case are as follows:
	Whether the value of the alleged fraud exceeds £1 million;
	If the case has a significant international dimension;
	If the case is likely to be of widespread public concern;
	If the case requires highly specialised knowledge. For example, of financial markets;
	If there is a need to use the SFO's special powers, such as section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act.
	The SFO does not have separate criteria that apply to allegations of overseas bribery. Allegations of this nature would have to meet the above criteria for the SFO to commence an investigation.
	The SFO could not—and does not—take on every referred case of suspected fraud or corruption. It must focus its resources on the major, most complicated and serious instances of fraud or corruption. Cases which do not meet the SFO's case acceptance criteria may be referred to other authorities for investigation and prosecution.

Corruption

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Solicitor-General what cases of alleged overseas bribery and corruption which the Serious Fraud Office has accepted for investigation are under investigation; which countries are concerned; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The Serious Fraud Office is currently investigating a number of significant cases where there are allegations of overseas bribery and corruption, as well as fraud.
	It is not possible for operational reasons to give specific details of each of these cases, but two examples of current investigations include; an investigation into Kellog Brown and Root in connection with Nigeria and a number of other countries, and an investigation into reinsurance involving the National Insurance Institute in Costa Rica.
	A number of other cases are also currently being considered for investigation in the vetting process.

Corruption

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases had been recorded on the register of referrals for overseas corruption on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many cases recorded on the register were  (a) investigated,  (b) researched to establish whether an investigation was merited,  (c) closed after investigation and  (d) passed to another agency in each year since 2001.

Vera Baird: The register of referrals for overseas corruption was maintained by the National Criminal Intelligence Service from 14 February 2002 after sections 108 and 109 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001) came into effect. On 1 August 2005, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) took over responsibility for maintaining the register.
	The SFO had 202 cases recorded on the register of referrals for overseas corruption as of 30 June 2009—the latest date for which figures are available.
	In respect of parts  (a),  (b) and  (c) of the right hon. Member's question, the figures are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Calendar year  Cases recorded  (a) Investigated (following research)  (b) Researched  (c) Closed after investigation 
			 2002(1) 6 0 4 0 
			 2003 7 4 1 2 
			 2004 34 6 18 1 
			 2005 23 6 12 3 
			 2006 24 4 12 3 
			 2007 36 11 17 3 
			 2008 44 16 17 8 
			 2009(2) 28 0 23 0 
			 Total 202 47 104 20 
			 (1) From 14 February 2002. (2) To 30 June 2009. 
		
	
	In respect of part  (d) of the question, approximately 30 cases have been passed on to other agencies since the register was opened. A year-by-year breakdown cannot be provided as records are not kept in this format.

Domestic Violence: North West

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Solicitor-General how many  (a) arrests,  (b) prosecutions and  (c) convictions of (i) men and (ii) women for acts of domestic violence there were in (A) Stockport, (B) Greater Manchester and  (c) the North West in each of the last 10 years.

Vera Baird: The following tables show the number of defendants prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and in the North West for offences of domestic violence in each of the five years (these are the years for which complete records are available). CPS data is confined to defendant case outcomes in a set of proceedings. Information on arrests has been provided by the Home Office in the following tables. This information is captured on a different basis, and cannot easily be associated with CPS data.
	Outcomes are divided into convictions, including guilty pleas as well as convictions after trial; and unsuccessful outcomes, comprising all other outcomes. Figures are shown separately for male and for female defendants. The North West comprises CPS Cumbria and CPS Lancashire.
	The tables also show comparable data for England and Wales as a whole for the same period.
	
		
			  Domestic violence outcomes by gender of defendant 
			   Male 
			   Convictions  Unsuccessful outcomes  Total 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			  Stockport   
			 2004-05 76 63.3 44 36.7 120 94.5 
			 2005-06 79 57.7 58 42.3 137 94.5 
			 2006-07 111 61.3 70 38.7 181 96.8 
			 2007-08 194 73.2 71 26.8 265 92.7 
			 2008-09 220 82.1 48 17.9 268 94.4 
			
			  Greater Manchester   
			 2004-05 895 57.6 660 42.4 1,555 96.3 
			 2005-06 1,548 67.7 740 32.3 2,288 96.1 
			 2006-07 2,149 68.1 1,007 31.9 3,156 95.0 
			 2007-08 2,822 72.3 1,079 27.7 3,901 94.5 
			 2008-09 2,855 75.3 938 24.7 3,793 94.3 
			
			  North West   
			 2004-05 969 61.9 596 38.1 1,565 96.1 
			 2005-06 1,566 67.6 750 32.4 2,316 94.9 
			 2006-07 1,944 68.1 912 31.9 2,856 94.9 
			 2007-08 2,754 76.0 870 24.0 3,624 92.4 
			 2008-09 3,607 78.3 1,002 21.7 4,609 90.7 
			
			  England  and  Wales   
			 2004-05 18,659 55.3 15,094 44.7 33,753 95.5 
			 2005-06 28,736 59.9 19,209 40.1 47,945 94.8 
			 2006-07 35,647 65.3 18,913 34.7 54,560 94.8 
			 2007-08 41,430 69.0 18,607 31.0 60,037 94.1 
			 2008-09 45,484 72.4 17,321 27.6 62,805 93.6 
		
	
	
		
			   Female 
			   Convictions  Unsuccessful outcomes  Total 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			  Stockport   
			 2004-05 2 28.6 5 71.4 7 5.5 
			 2005-06 7 87.5 1 12.5 8 5.5 
			 2006-07 3 50.0 3 50.0 6 3.2 
			 2007-08 13 61.9 8 38.1 21 7.3 
			 2008-09 8 50.0 8 50.0 16 5.6 
			
			  Greater Manchester   
			 2004-05 23 38.3 37 61.7 60 3.7 
			 2005-06 65 70.7 27 29.3 92 3.9 
			 2006-07 114 69.1 51 30.9 165 5.0 
			 2007-08 153 67.7 73 32.3 226 5.5 
			 2008-09 166 72.5 63 27.5 229 5.7 
			
			  North West   
			 2004-05 45 70.3 19 29.7 64 3.9 
			 2005-06 80 64.5 44 35.5 124 5.1 
			 2006-07 107 70.4 45 29.6 152 5.1 
			 2007-08 223 75.1 74 24.9 297 7.6 
			 2008-09 366 77.7 105 22.3 471 9.3 
			  England  and  Wales   
			 2004-05 806 51.2 769 48.8 1,575 4.5 
			 2005-06 1,474 56.6 1,132 43.4 2,606 5.2 
			 2006-07 1,850 62.3 1,120 37.7 2,970 5.2 
			 2007-08 2,540 67.4 1,230 32.6 3,770 5.9 
			 2008-09 2,968 69.6 1,298 30.4 4,266 6.4 
		
	
	
		
			   Total 
			   Convictions  Unsuccessful outcomes  
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total outcomes 
			  Stockport  
			 2004-05 78 61.4 49 38.6 127 
			 2005-06 86 59.3 59 40.7 145 
			 2006-07 114 61.0 73 39.0 187 
			 2007-08 207 72.4 79 27.6 286 
			 2008-09 228 80.3 56 19.7 284 
			   
			  Greater Manchester  
			 2004-05 918 56.8 697 43.2 1,615 
			 2005-06 1,613 67.8 767 32.2 2,380 
			 2006-07 2,263 68.1 1,058 31.9 3,321 
			 2007-08 2,975 72.1 1,152 27.9 4,127 
			 2008-09 3,021 75.1 1,001 24.9 4,022 
			   
			  North West  
			 2004-05 1,014 62.2 615 37.8 1,629 
			 2005-06 1,646 67.5 794 32.5 2,440 
			 2006-07 2,051 68.2 957 31.8 3,008 
			 2007-08 2,977 75.9 944 24.1 3,921 
			 2008-09 3,973 78.2 1,107 21.8 5,080 
			   
			  England  and  Wales  
			 2004-05 19,465 55.1 15,863 44.9 35,328 
			 2005-06 30,210 59.8 20,341 40.2 50,551 
			 2006-07 37,497 65.2 20,033 34.8 57,530 
			 2007-08 43,970 68.9 19,837 31.1 63,807 
			 2008-09 48,452 72.2 18,619 27.8 67,071 
		
	
	
		
			   2004-05  2005-06 
			   No. of DV arrests  No. of DV incidents  DV incident arrest rate (%)  No. of DV arrests  No. of DV incidents  DV incident arrest rate (%) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,422 14,537 16.7 3,421 14,714 23.2 
			 Bedfordshire 2,031 7,486 27.1 2,093 7,800 26.8 
			 Cambridgeshire — — — 1,118 7,081 15.8 
			 Cheshire 1,087 4,115 26.4 2,185 6,709 32.6 
			 City of London 23 102 22.5 39 83 47.0 
			 Cleveland 2,282 9,689 23.6 3,265 12,493 26.1 
			 Cumbria 1,438 5,568 25.8 1,057 3,809 27.8 
			 Derbyshire — — — — — — 
			 Devon and Cornwall 5,106 20,123 25.4 5,086 21,417 23.7 
			 Dorset 1,147 4,016 28.6 1,688 4,962 34.0 
			 Durham 1,853 8,904 20.8 2,045 8,218 24.9 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1,180 3,890 30.3 1,438 3,895 36.9 
			 Essex 2,703 14,399 18.8 2,901 10,785 26.9 
			 Gloucestershire — — — 1,652 6,693 24.7 
			 Greater Manchester 6,150 56,778 10.8 6,965 60,977 11.4 
			 Gwent 2,727 4,329 63.0 2,371 4,787 49.5 
			 Hampshire 3,140 18,787 16.7 — — — 
			 Hertfordshire 2,423 12,783 19.0 2,456 10,514 23.4 
			 Humberside 1,150 7,519 15.3 3,138 12,500 25.1 
			 Kent 4,198 18,321 22.9 4,572 19,464 23.5 
			 Lancashire 6,011 22,514 26.7 7,390 22,020 33.6 
			 Leicestershire 301 3,375 8.9 2,801 12,935 21.7 
			 Lincolnshire 1,257 7,117 17.7 1,062 5,965 17.8 
			 Merseyside 2,936 17,605 16.7 5,075 23,292 21.8 
			 Metropolitan Police 14,738 60,838 24.2 21,268 59,905 35.5 
			 Norfolk 1,407 5,813 24.2 2,250 8,008 28.1 
			 North Wales 198 1,551 12.8 1,062 4,819 22.0 
			 North Yorkshire 1,497 4,660 32.1 2,081 4,276 48.7 
			 Northamptonshire 433 7,012 6.2 1,851 2,818 65.7 
			 Northumbria 5,993 22,879 26.2 6,598 22,871 28.8 
			 Nottinghamshire 840 4,149 20.2 2,037 15,279 13.3 
			 South Wales 3,818 14,797 25.8 4,971 16,791 29.6 
			 South Yorkshire 2,404 5,225 46.0 2,463 6,276 39.2 
			 Staffordshire 5,230 6,714 77.9 5,793 16,234 35.7 
			 Suffolk 997 5,515 18.1 1,168 5,532 21.1 
			 Surrey 1,776 11,563 15.4 2,489 12,498 19.9 
			 Sussex 4,700 15,604 30.1 4,137 14,710 28.1 
			 Thames Valley 3,164 14,884 21.3 6,236 18,124 34.4 
			 Warwickshire — — — 165 908 18.2 
			 West Mercia 2555 8486 30.1 3099 11684 26.5 
			 West Midlands 8,388 33,667 24.9 11,789 38,333 30.8 
			 West Yorkshire 11,045 34,914 31.6 15,949 34,857 45.8 
			 Wiltshire 1,318 9,067 14.5 1,722 6,710 25.7 
			
			 National — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			   2006-07  2007-08 
			   No. of DV arrests  No. of DV incidents  DV incident arrest rate (%)  No. of DV arrests  No. of DV incidents  DV incident arrest rate (%) 
			 Avon and Somerset 4,569 15,532 29.4 3,313 10,719 30.9 
			 Bedfordshire 1,608 7,341 21.9 1,333 7,603 17.5 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,283 7,501 17.1 1,723 8,908 19.3 
			 Cheshire 2,768 5,161 53.6 2,635 4,865 54.2 
			 City of London 54 96 56.3 55 116 47.4 
			 Cleveland 1,606 6,083 26.4 3,609 10,879 33.2 
			 Cumbria 1,114 4,372 25.5 1,577 4,515 34.9 
			 Derbyshire 3,195 11,818 27.0 4,458 16,425 27.1 
			 Devon and Cornwall 3,715 22,828 16.3 4,395 23,789 18.5 
			 Dorset 2,096 5,458 38.4 2,148 5,867 36.6 
			 Durham 2,016 8,163 24.7 2,123 8,520 24.9 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1,830 3,871 47.3 1,492 2,836 52.6 
			 Essex 4,207 15,225 27.6 5,606 17,826 31.4 
			 Gloucestershire 2,062 8,237 25.0 2,287 7,352 31.1 
			 Greater Manchester 8,269 64,727 12.8 8,924 64,156 13.9 
			 Gwent 1,876 6,757 27.8 1,428 7,696 18.6 
			 Hampshire 8,177 22,682 36.1 7,321 22,912 32.0 
			 Hertfordshire 2,965 10,926 27.1 3,223 11,280 28.6 
			 Humberside 3,396 12,752 26.6 3,159 13,531 23.3 
			 Kent 6,148 19,087 32.2 6,696 20,141 33.2 
			 Lancashire 8,333 22,217 37.5 8,365 23,030 36.3 
			 Leicestershire 2,773 9,918 28.0 2,202 9,033 24.4 
			 Lincolnshire 1,304 4,912 26.5 2,129 5,712 37.3 
			 Merseyside 5,583 25,568 21.8 6,320 29,033 21.8 
			 Metropolitan Police 31,582 69,438 45.5 35,355 84,026 42.1 
			 Norfolk 2,104 7,893 26.7 1,655 6,241 26.5 
			 North Wales 3,580 10,188 35.1 3,461 9,860 35.1 
			 North Yorkshire 2,552 5,986 42.6 1,795 5,466 32.8 
			 Northamptonshire 1,792 7,850 22.8 1,809 9,586 18.9 
			 Northumbria 7,441 24,277 30.7 8,758 25,788 34.0 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,906 17,534 10.9 1,756 19,166 9.2 
			 South Wales 4,814 15,421 31.2 — — — 
			 South Yorkshire 5,781 17,825 32.4 6,377 16,026 39.8 
			 Staffordshire 5,486 18,659 29.4 3,074 20,118 15.3 
			 Suffolk 1,564 4,314 36.3 1,506 4,964 30.3 
			 Surrey 3,068 11,742 26.1 2,843 10,803 26.3 
			 Sussex 6,327 14,374 44.0 3,784 15,877 23.8 
			 Thames Valley 7,794 16,391 47.6 9,053 26,383 34.3 
			 Warwickshire 1,580 6,932 22.8 2,054 7,305 28.1 
			 West Mercia 3,570 12,799 27.9 3,538 13,241 26.7 
			 West Midlands 15,216 40,233 37.8 13,732 37,897 36.2 
			 West Yorkshire 18,378 34,481 53.3 16,729 30,348 55.1 
			 Wiltshire 2,083 6,600 31.6 2,430 6,433 37.8 
			
			 National — — — 206,230 686,272 30.1

Government Legal Service: Complaints

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what procedures there are within the Government Legal Service for dealing with complaints about non-compliance with the Lexcel standard.

Vera Baird: The procedure in respect of complaints about non-compliance with Lexcel by Treasury Solicitor's Department is that, like any complaint, they should be directed to the Head of Litigation at the Treasury Solicitor's Department or to the Treasury Solicitor for consideration.
	Any complaints in respect of other Departments will be dealt with in accordance with the rules of the relevant department.

Government Legal Service: Manpower

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what the order of precedence and seniority is of the lawyers within the Government Legal Service; and what procedures are used to reconcile differences of opinion between lawyers of different ranks within the Service.

Vera Baird: The Government Legal Service (GLS) is the organisational name for a group embracing the legal divisions in around 30 departments, agencies and other organisations across Government. The GLS does not employ staff. Lawyers are employed by departments, agencies and other organisations across Government. Membership of the GLS is by accreditation of the department or other body to which the lawyer belongs. The organisational management structure and lines of accountability apply to Government lawyers in the same way as they apply to all other civil servants working in the same organisation.
	The inter-relationships between Government lawyers' obligations as civil servants and as members of the legal profession are set out in the Attorney the right, and at times the duty, to consult the Law Officers on professional questions.

Government Legal Service: Standards

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps have been taken to promote legal professionalism within the Government Legal Service.

Vera Baird: The members of the Government Legal Service (GLS) take their obligation to promote the professionalism of their legal staff very seriously. All Government lawyers are bound by the codes of conduct applicable to their branch of the profession, including the duty to undertake Continuing Professional Development. They are supported in this through access to a tailored programme of Professional Training for Government Lawyers—designed by the GLS and delivered through the National School of Government.

Legal Costs

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General in how many cases costs have been awarded against the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: The following table provides a summary of the total number of payments made and the value of costs awarded against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the last three financial years. The CPS holds no central record of the number of cases in respect of which costs were awarded against the Service. The information is held on individual case files and could only be retrieved by examining every relevant file in each CPS office.
	
		
			   Value  (£000)  Number 
			 2006-07 403 262 
			 2007-08 752 333 
			 2008-09 653 485 
		
	
	Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is comprehensive and correct, but a full reconciliation against the original transactions has not been performed as this would incur disproportionate costs.

Offences Against the Person Act 1961

Jon Trickett: To ask the Solicitor-General how many defendants over the age of 21 years were charged with an offence of grievous bodily harm under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1961 in 2007-08; and how many such defendants subsequently agreed to plead guilty to, and were convicted of, an offence under section 20 of that Act after discussions with the prosecuting authorities.

Vera Baird: The Crown Prosecution Service's system for managing its case data includes a count of the number of offences for which a prosecution is commenced under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, and these figures are as follows. However, the case management system does not record particulars of subsequent amendments to the charges brought. While the CPS records both the outcome of proceedings and the age of defendants, this information is captured at defendant level, not at specific charge level.
	
		
			  Offences against the Person Act 1861 (18) 
			   Number 
			 2005-06 7,158 
			 2006-07 6,617 
			 2007-08 6,770 
			 2008-09 6,672

Prosecutions

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions brought by the Crown Prosecution Service have not resulted in a conviction in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: The following table shows, for each of the last three years, the number of defendants prosecuted by the CPS whose case was completed in magistrates courts and in the crown court. These are divided into convictions, inclusive of guilty pleas as well as cases convicted after trial; and unsuccessful outcomes, representing all outcomes other than a conviction.
	
		
			   Magistrates court  Crown court  All courts 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			  2006 to 2007   
			 Conviction outcomes 831,901 84.2 69,118 77.3 901,019 83.6 
			 Unsuccessful outcomes 156,080 15.8 20,290 22.7 176,370 16.4 
			 Total completed outcomes 987,981  89,408  1,077,389  
			
			  2007 to 2008   
			 Conviction outcomes 828,535 85.7 76,947 79.3 905,482 85.1 
			 Unsuccessful outcomes 138,091 14.3 20,045 20.7 158,136 14.9 
			 Total completed outcomes 966,626  96,992  1,063,618  
			
			  2008 to 2009   
			 Conviction outcomes 810,605 87.3 84,000 80.9 894,605 86.6 
			 Unsuccessful outcomes 118,103 12.7 19,890 19.1 137,993 13.4 
			 Total completed outcomes 928,708  103,890  1,032,598

Prosecutors: Training

David Howarth: To ask the Solicitor-General what training is given to prosecutors who appear in youth courts to enable them to take account of the age and welfare needs of those aged under 18 years.

Vera Baird: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) provides a three day training course, accredited by the Law Society and the Bar Council, that equips prosecutors to conduct youth court cases in a manner that takes into account the age, welfare and developmental needs of young defendants. The CPS also holds regular seminars and an annual inter-agency conference to inform prosecutors of legal, policy and practical developments affecting young defendants.

Treasury Counsel

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make it her policy to employ Treasury Counsel on a permanent basis rather than engaging them on a case by case basis with a view to reducing expenditure on legal fees.

Vera Baird: The practice whereby First Treasury Counsel and the members of the Attorney-General's panel of civil counsel are engaged, as practising members of the Bar, to undertake work on individual cases on behalf of Government has served successive administrations well. There is no intention at present to cease that practice and to engage them on a permanent basis as civil servants.

Treasury Solicitors Department

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what records exist of payments made by the Treasury Solicitor's Department to counsel instructed by it.

Vera Baird: The Treasury Solicitor's Department maintains electronic and paper records in relation to all payments made to Counsel instructed by it. This will include information about disbursements and VAT.

Treasury Solicitors Department: Complaints

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what mechanisms are in place to provide redress for individuals in circumstances in which the professional service provided by the Treasury Solicitor's Department is found to have been inadequate.

Vera Baird: The Treasury Solicitor's Department, in common with other Government Departments, has a complaints procedure for external complaints which is publicly available on its website. As well as this internal complaints procedure, an individual who considers that he or she has suffered an injustice as a result of maladministration by the Department may, through his or her Member of Parliament, make a complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and details of how to do so are also included on the Department's website.

Treasury Solicitors Department: Complaints

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General how many complaints have been made to the Treasury Solicitor's Department which have been recorded and processed under the Lexcel procedure in the last 12 months; and how many such complaints have still to be processed.

Vera Baird: Treasury Solicitors has recorded 20 external complaints under their complaints procedure (in compliance with Lexcel) within the last 12 months. Of these complaints 18 have been processed and two are outstanding.

Treasury Solicitors Department: Legal Costs

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Treasury Solicitor's Department takes on  (a) certifying and  (b) claiming costs for work undertaken to ensure that the quantum of costs claimed is accurate, taking into account the indemnity principle.

Vera Baird: The steps taken on  (a) certifying and  (b) claiming costs for work undertaken include the drawing up of a Bill of Costs which is checked by a law costs draftsman from the in-house costs team at the Treasury Solicitor's Department with reference to the following:
	(i) Information from the Treasury Solicitor's Department Finance Department is obtained which identifies all the elements of work which have been billed to the client Department, including all disbursements.
	(ii) Only elements of work which have been charged to the client department are included in the subject matter of the costs recovery claim and any elements of work charged to a client department which would not properly be recoverable from the other side are excluded.
	Ch. 112."
	(iv) The Bill of Costs is also usually sent to the Case Officer who had conduct of the litigation for a similar checking/verification process and to the client Department for approval.
	(v) On the return of the Bill from the client department, the law costs draftsman carries out final checks and completes and signs a certificate as to its accuracy, on behalf of the Treasury Solicitor.
	In the context of a Summary Assessment of costs a Schedule of Costs is prepared and checked by the litigation case officer with assistance and input, where necessary, from the in-house costs team.

Treasury Solicitors Department: Manpower

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General how many lawyers working within the Treasury Solicitor's Department are of Senior Civil Service rank; and how many of them are qualified to practise in England and Wales as  (a) solicitors and  (b) barristers.

Vera Baird: There are 61 qualified lawyers in the senior civil service in the Treasury Solicitor's Department. Of these, 39 are qualified solicitors and 22 are qualified barristers.

Treasury Solicitors Department: Manpower

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General how many lawyers below Senior Civil Service rank employed by the Government Legal Service are  (a) qualified solicitors in England and Wales,  (b) qualified barristers in England and Wales and  (c) not qualified solicitors or barristers in England and Wales.

Vera Baird: The Government Legal Service database holds records of 1,686 qualified lawyers below the senior civil service employed by Departments that are members of the Government Legal Service. Of these, 1,297 are qualified solicitors and 389 are qualified barristers. The database has no records of unqualified staff.

Treasury Solicitors Department: Pay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General who the 10 highest paid Treasury counsel were in each of the last three years; and how much each counsel received in each of those years.

Vera Baird: The 10 barristers (being either First Treasury Counsel or members of the Attorney-General's panel of civil counsel) receiving the highest fee payments from the Treasury Solicitor's Department in respect of instructions from that Department in the last three financial years were as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			  2006-07  
			 Mr. Philip Sales 530,986 
			 Mr. Tim Eicke 221,882 
			 Miss Lisa Giovannetti 184,172 
			 Mr. Jonathan Crow 165,657 
			 Mr. Andrew O'Connor 150,895 
			 Mr. David Barr 148,816 
			 Mr. Paul Gott 140,914 
			 Mr. Martin Chamberlain 139,248 
			 Mr. Jeremy Johnson 138,239 
			 Mr. Alan Payne 136,524 
			   
			  2007-08  
			 Mr. Philip Sales 551,163 
			 Mr. Jonathan Swift 226,680 
			 Mr. Jeremy Johnson 219,132 
			 Mr. Parishil Patel 217,303 
			 Miss Lisa Giovannetti 206,850 
			 Mr. Nicholas Moss 197,380 
			 Mr. James Eadie 182,520 
			 Mr. Andrew O'Connor 171,840 
			 Mr. Alan Payne 164,666 
			 Mr. Martin Chamberlain 158,993 
			   
			  2008-09  
			 Mr. Philip Sales 446,974 
			 Mr. David Evans 286,340 
			 Mr. Jonathan Swift 242,764 
			 Mr. Jeremy Johnson 235,182 
			 Mr. Alan Payne 186,555 
			 Mr. Jonathan Glasson 180,300 
			 Mr. Nicholas Moss 175,620 
			 Mr. Philip Coppel 175,129 
			 Miss Leigh-Ann Mulcahy 172,001 
			 Miss Lisa Giovannetti 164,962

Treasury Solicitors Department: Standards

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance there is to ensure that the Treasury Solicitor's Department advises its clients on obligations concerning  (a) disclosure and  (b) statements of truth required in litigation; and what records are kept of material by the Treasury Solicitor on provision of such advice.

Vera Baird: The Crown and its servants are obliged to comply with the terms of the Civil Procedure Rules with regard to disclosure and the making of statements of truth.
	The Treasury Solicitor and his legally qualified staff owe the same duty of professional care to the Crown as any solicitor or barrister does to his or her client to act lawfully and in the client's best interests.
	As well as these requirements all civil servants are expressly bound by the Civil Service Code to "comply with the law and the administration of justice" and government lawyers are additionally told by the Attorney General's Guidance Note for Government Lawyers "to give impartial, objective and frank advice". In providing such advice, they must "have particular regard to the fact that it is a fundamental obligation of Government that it should itself act in accordance with, and subject to, the law."
	Advice tendered to clients in the course of litigation will be a matter of record in the case file pertaining to the matter.

Government Departments: Security

Francis Maude: To ask the Prime Minister what criteria he uses when determining whether to request the Security Commission to investigate a breach of security in Government departments.

Gordon Brown: The Prime Minister would refer a case to the security commission following consultation.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many maps of their land submitted by farmers in claiming Common Agricultural Policy subsidies in 2007-08 were judged by his Department to be materially incorrect.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is responsible for the maintenance of mapping data used to support the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) and other direct support schemes.
	RPA cannot determine which map notifications from farmers are materially incorrect (have incorrect boundaries and in field features), other than by undertaking an inspection of the farm. In each scheme year the RPA inspects 5 per cent. of SPS customers. As a result of these inspections, in the 2007 scheme year the need for mapping changes were identified in 3,284 farm businesses, which resulted in 18,375 amended fields. In the 2008 scheme year the need for mapping changes were identified in 3,033 farm businesses, which resulted in 20,860 amended fields.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the Rural Payments Agency decided to issue a new set of maps in connection with claims for payments under the single payment scheme; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost of doing so. [R]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is in the process of updating land information used to support the Single Payment Scheme and other direct support schemes. The programme of work is under way to deliver the up-to-date geographic information system, required under EU regulations following criticism in European Commission audits which has the potential to result in financial penalties (disallowance). It is calculated that approximately 5 per cent. of land parcels change every year.
	RPA has projected a budget of £21.4 million (covering the period January 2007 to April 2010) to complete the programme of work which includes updating the Rural Land Register (RLR) data with the latest mapping information and confirming the link between each land parcel and a specific claimant; the strategy, necessary IT infrastructure and capability to update the RLR regularly and systematically in future to ensure it meets regulatory requirements and can support further service enhancements such as electronic access.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by what date farmers are required to notify the Rural Payments Agency of amendments in relation to the new set of maps issued in connection with claims for payment under the single payment scheme; and within what time period the Rural Payments Agency will be required to confirm such amendments. [R]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is asking farmers to respond within 28 days of receiving their updated maps. The agency appreciates this is a busy time of year and that farmers with a large number of land parcels may need more time to check their maps. In these circumstance farmers are asked to contact the RPA and agree an extended response date.
	Map amendments received by RPA within the 28-day period will be reviewed and, once accepted, should be confirmed in a new set of maps sent to the farmer approximately six to eight weeks later. Any map amendments sent in after the 28-day period will take longer to be accepted and confirmed.
	The mapping update is being done now as the application period for the 2009 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) has passed and before the payment window opens. The updated maps should be used to pre-populate the 2010 SPS application forms.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the total monetary value of single farm payments withheld for  (a) cattle passport infringements and  (b) other infringements in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The monetary value withheld from Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payments because of cattle passport and cattle identification infringements or other infringements is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			  SPS Scheme Year  SPS money withheld for cattle passport and cattle identification infringements  SPS money withheld for other reasons 
			 2007 579,011 7,125,230 
			 2008 446,850 3,815,815 
		
	
	The figures are for 2007 and 2008 SPS years and do not correlate to financial years.

Climate Change: South East

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the likely effects of climate change on the  (a) ceremonial county of Hampshire and  (b) South East in the next 10 years.

Dan Norris: On 18 June, the Government published the latest UK Climate Projections. These projections show the potential changes in climate for the UK for a range of probabilities, climate variables and emissions scenarios. The data is provided by region to a scale of 25km grid squares in 30 year overlapping time slices, starting from the 30 year average between 2010-39. This data is freely available to all to make their own assessments of the likely effects of climate change. The Government have set the framework to allow local authorities to undertake their own assessments of the risks and effects from climate change into the future by including a new performance indicator (National Indicator 188 Planning to Adapt to Climate Change) in the local government performance framework. Under the Climate Change Act 2008 the Government are required to undertake a risk assessment of the impacts of climate change on the UK. The results of this risk assessment will include an assessment by region and is expected to be published in 2012.

Dairy Farming: Finance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will assess the merits of using funding from  (a) his Department's budget and  (b) Rural Development Programme for England programmes to assist dairy farmers in meeting the cost of slurry stores arising from obligations under the Nitrates Directive.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ensure the budget available to England under the Rural Development Programme achieves the best possible value for money, it was decided not to implement measures within the Rural Development Regulation that provide assistance to farmers to adapt to standards based on Community legislation. To provide assistance to farmers that would only implement obligations under the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 would offer no additionality—an important consideration in spending any taxpayers' money.
	No new central Government money will be made available for assisting farmers with the costs of meeting the manure storage capacity requirements established by the Nitrates Regulations. Capital grants could simply increase storage tank supply prices and merely postpone the impact of market forces. Providing grants would also contravene the 'polluter pays' principle.
	However, there are ways in which farmers can minimise the need for extra storage, through simple actions such as diverting rainwater away from slurry stores and covering storage tanks. We are providing advice and guidance on these actions and have provided a three-year implementation period.
	Slurry storage facilities may also be considered as plant and machinery and therefore eligible for plant and machinery allowances such as the new annual investment allowance, capped at £50,000 per year. Slurry pits also qualify for allowances in their own right under the Capital Allowances Act 2001.

Damian McBride

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date he last met Mr Damian McBride in the course of his official duties.

Dan Norris: Since the date of Mr. McBride's resignation (11 April 2009), my right hon. Friend has had no meetings with Mr. McBride.

Departmental Accountancy

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to publish his Department's resource accounts for 2008-09.

Dan Norris: DEFRA intends to lay the Department's Resource Accounts for 2008-09 before Parliament by 21 July 2009, subject to clearance by Comptroller and Auditor General. Publication will follow within one month of laying.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will request the Waste and Resources Action Programme to produce best practice guidance on the operation of weekly collections of residual household waste.

Dan Norris: WRAP has produced guidance on a wide variety of collection approaches and best practice for specific material streams. Its forward work programme is agreed annually with DEFRA. DEFRA has not asked WRAP to produce guidance specifically on best practice on weekly collections of household waste to date. We will continue to work with WRAP to ensure the guidance they provide gives a range of advice that is valuable to local authorities in assisting them in the decisions they have to make about approaches to collecting household waste at a local level.

Fisheries: Prosecutions

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions for offences involving harm or disturbance to marine wildlife and habitats have been brought in each of the last five years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) shows the number of prosecutions brought under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (for those sections which data is available) from 2003 to 2007. The MOJ cannot separately identify from the Act those offences that specifically relate to offences involving harm or disturbance to marine wildlife and habitats.
	
		
			  Wildlife and Countryside Act Prosecutions 2003 to 2007 
			Defendants 
			  Statute  Offence description  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 S.28P as added by Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 Sch. 9 Carrying out or causing to permit to be carried out any operation likely to damage part of an area of special scientific interest subject to notification by Nature Conservancy Council 2 3 2 1 3 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 8 Protection of captive birds — 1 2 1 3 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 9 Protection of certain wild animals 3 4 7 22 13 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 11 Prohibition of certain methods of killing or taking wild animals. 1 — — 2 — 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 S.28Q as added by Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 Sch. 9 Change of owner or occupier in area of special scientific interest failing to with requirements — — — 1 — 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 1 Protection of wild birds 29 57 28 95 23 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 1 Protection of nests and eggs of wild birds 17 18 16 22 4 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 3 Protection of wild birds in sanctuaries 1 — — — — 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 5 Prohibition of certain methods of killing or taking wild birds 3 4 5 4 1 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 6 Sale etc. of live or dead wild birds, eggs etc. 1 1 — 2 1 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 17 False statements made for obtaining registration or licence etc. — 1 2 — 1 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec. 7 Registration etc. of certain captive birds 2 1 — — — 
			 Total  59 90 62 150 49 
			  Notes: 1. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Court proceedings data held by RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice.

Gatwick Airport: Noise

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to send to the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling a copy of the report sent to the European Commission in relation to noise mapping of the area around Gatwick Airport which he undertook to enclose in his letter to the right hon. Member of 9 June 2009.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Two copies of the report sent to the European Commission in relation to noise mapping around Gatwick airport were sent to the right hon. Member on 16 July.

Glasgow

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.

Dan Norris: My right hon. Friend has no current plans to do so.

Nature Conservation: Crime

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reported incidents of wildlife crime there were in each of the last 10 years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) has recorded wildlife incidents across the UK since April 2007. Information on incidents that occurred prior to April 2007 is not held centrally but would be available from each individual police force across the UK.
	The NWCU cannot currently provide details of how many of the following incidents have since been given a crime number by the reporting force. Therefore, these figures must be looked at only as incidents, not accurate figures of wildlife crime.
	
		
			  Incidents reported to NWCU (April 2007 to December 2007) for whole of UK 
			  Category of incident  Total 
			 Badger Persecution 128 
			 Bat Persecution 39 
			 CITES Caviar 0 
			 CITES Ivory 3 
			 CITES Other 12 
			 CITES Tortoises 4 
			 CITES Traditional Medicines 0 
			 Finch Trapping 1 
			 Fox Hunting 21 
			 Fresh Water Pearl Mussels 5 
			 Habitat Destruction 66 
			 Hare Coursing 98 
			 Nest Destruction/Disturbance 117 
			 Other 739 
			 Poaching—Deer 36 
			 Poaching—Fish 53 
			 Poaching—Other 35 
			 Poisoning (Non Raptors/Baits) 32 
			 Poisoning Raptors 17 
			 Raptor Persecution 69 
			 Release of Non Native Species 3 
			 Shooting 99 
			 Traps/Snares 64 
			 Wild Bird Egg/Chick Theft 17 
			 Grand total 1,658 
		
	
	
		
			  Incidents reported to NWCU (January 2008 to December 2008) for  whole of UK 
			  Category of incident  Total 
			 Badger Persecution 280 
			 Bat Persecution 100 
			 CITES Caviar 2 
			 CITES Ivory 5 
			 CITES Other 36 
			 CITES Tortoises 7 
			 CITES Traditional Medicines 5 
			 Finch Trapping 12 
			 Fox Hunting 141 
			 Fresh Water Pearl Mussels 9 
			 Habitat Destruction 127 
			 Hare Coursing 314 
			 Nest Destruction/Disturbance 129 
			 Other 1,267 
			 Poaching—Deer 170 
			 Poaching—Fish 115 
			 Poaching—Other 281 
			 Poisoning (Non Raptors/Baits) 42 
			 Poisoning Raptors 21 
			 Raptor Persecution 108 
			 Release of Non Native Species 9 
			 Shooting 205 
			 Traps/Snares 108 
			 Wild Bird Egg/Chick Theft 21 
			 Grand total 3,514 
		
	
	
		
			  Incidents reported to NWCU (January 2009 to July 2009) for whole of UK 
			  Category of Incident  Total 
			 Badger Persecution 241 
			 Bat Persecution 38 
			 CITES Caviar 0 
			 CITES Ivory 0 
			 CITES Other 16 
			 CITES Tortoises 7 
			 CITES Traditional Medicines 9 
			 Finch Trapping 5 
			 Fox Hunting 82 
			 Fresh Water Pearl Mussels 5 
			 Habitat Destruction 110 
			 Hare Coursing 261 
			 Nest Destruction/Disturbance 159 
			 Other 1,105 
			 Poaching—Deer 163 
			 Poaching—Fish 86 
			 Poaching—Other 355 
			 Poisoning (Non Raptors/Baits) 29 
			 Poisoning Raptors 22 
			 Raptor Persecution 49 
			 Release of Non Native Species 7 
			 Shooting 190 
			 Traps/Snares 104 
			 Wild Bird Egg/Chick Theft 21 
			 Grand total 3,064

Recycling: Business

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what initiatives his Department is undertaking to encourage businesses to recycle waste.

Dan Norris: Since the Waste Strategy for England 2007 was published, DEFRA has been engaging with key waste stakeholders on priorities for commercial and industrial waste policy and we are aiming to publish a further statement of our strategic aims on commercial and industrial waste later this year.
	DEFRA funds a number of delivery bodies to help stimulate and support business to be more resource efficient and reduce and recycle its waste.
	These include:
	Envirowise—waste and water minimisation.
	The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) to facilitate one operator's waste being used as a raw material by another.
	The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to encourage recycling by business and consumers.
	The Centre for Reuse and Remanufacturing, the Construction Resources and Waste Platform to encourage greater resource efficiency in the construction sector.
	Action Sustainability to support more sustainable procurement.
	The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Centre for local authorities to provide tailored advice to business communities on waste and resource efficiency issues.
	In line with the Government's Business Support Simplification Programme and following the outcome of the Delivery Landscape Review, DEFRA has made WRAP responsible for overseeing funded support for material resource efficiency. The development and implementation of measures to minimise and recycle commercial and industrial waste will continue to be a key priority for this body.

Sheep: Tagging

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 531-32W, on sheep: tagging, when he plans to announce his proposals for the further reduction of the implementation burden on the industry of the electronic identification of sheep.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Further changes were secured to Council Regulation 21/2004 on 14 July at the Standing Committee of the Food Chain and Animal Health. These changes permit movements to be read on behalf of keepers at central reading points, such as markets and abattoirs. We estimate that this change will save the UK sheep industry between £7 million and £18 million each year.
	Combined with the two-year deferment to implementation and the other changes that were secured, the overall cost to the industry could be reduced by up to £65 million, depending on how the industry uses the concessions which were won for them.
	In England we will be working closely with industry over the coming months to put in place a practical and workable system for electronic identification of sheep by 31 December 2009.

Trading Standards

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures are in place to facilitate information-sharing between his Department and trading standards officials.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA assesses each request to share information on its merits, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and any other applicable legislation, to ensure effective and cost-efficient delivery of public services. If a regular exchange of information is required, data sharing protocols can be set up to facilitate the process.
	There is a close working relationship between Animal Health and Trading Standards in the larger rural counties. Information sharing takes place on many levels:
	Working together on enforcement issues including animal welfare cases and many other Animal Health enforcement issues results (notably bovine tuberculosis) in sharing of information on an informal and weekly/daily basis.
	Additional funding for Trading Standards offices has been supplied from DEFRA in recent years. Monitoring/auditing this work and our partnership has been done in regular meetings (often quarterly) under what we call the Framework Agreement. This involves sharing of information on a more formal basis.
	Animal Health managers are invited to Trading Standards regional meetings Central England Animal Health and Welfare Group (CenTSA) on a quarterly basis where information can be shared.
	There is an IT system referred to as AMES where information on the activities of Trading Standards staff is recorded. These data are available to both Animal Health and Trading Standards.
	Requests from Trading Standards are occasionally received for Animal Health to supply data from Animal Health IT systems. With due regard to Data Protection legislations, these requests are usually facilitated.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many urgent operational requests made in relation to Afghanistan in the last 12 months had not been met by 13 July 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: The Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) process exists to address unforeseen capability gaps for imminent or current operations. Over 70 UORs for Afghanistan were approved in the period 13 July 2008 to 13 July 2009. We would generally expect these programmes to begin delivering capability to Theatre between six to 18 months after approval. We would not, therefore, expect the majority of requirements associated with these programmes to be fully met within the period stated in the question.

Armed Forces: Aviation

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of flights  (a) to and  (b) from operational theatres have been (i) cancelled and (ii) delayed in each year since 2007; what the (A) location and (B) destination was of each such delayed flight; and what the (1) the length of time of and (2) reason for the delay was of each such delayed flight.

Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member.
	 Substantive answer from Bill Rammell to Liam Fox:
	My predecessor undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question of the 13 May 2009 (Official Report, column 762W) about the number of airbridge aircraft delayed in each year since 2007.
	Delay statistics are routinely collected for the passenger airbridge only. The passenger airbridge has provided a consistent and reliable service over the period, moving large numbers of personnel into sometimes hostile environments and under difficult conditions. Every effort is made to minimise delays and over 92% of airbridge flights arrive within six hours of their scheduled time.
	No airbridge tasks to Op Telic or Op Herrick have been cancelled since 2007. Delays may occur for a number of reasons. The location and reason for each delay is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Individual tasks could be delayed for more than one reason. Examples include: Air Traffic Control and airspace restrictions, missing imposed theatre arrival slot times, technical and equipment failures, diplomatic clearance, weather, crew duty hours, passenger and ground handling issues, fuelling, and holding aircraft to facilitate deployment of priority aeromedical teams to theatre.
	Information on delays to civil aircraft chartered by the MOD to operate the passenger airbridge, is given in the following tables. For 2007 delays were measured against the scheduled time of departure. Since January 2008 delays have been measured against scheduled time of arrival. It is not possible to distinguish between outbound and inbound charter flights. The data is held by calendar year and percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
	
		
			  Op Telic civil chartered aircraft delays to and from theatre 
			   Operated on time or within 1 hour  % on time or within 1 hour  Delayed 1-3 hours  % 1-3 hours  Delayed 3-6 hours  % 3-6 hours  Delayed 6 hours and over  % 6 hours and over 
			 2007 February to December 289 65 106 24 30 7 17 4 
			 2008 376 85 21 5 16 4 28 6 
			 2009 January to April 98 86 9 8 0 0 7 6 
		
	
	
		
			  Op Herrick civil chartered aircraft delays to and from theatre 
			   Operated on time or within 1 hour  % on time or within 1 hour  Delayed 1-3 hours  % 1-3 hours  Delayed 3-6 hours  % 3-6 hours  Delayed 6 hours and over  % 6 hours and over 
			 2007 February to December 63 82 11 14 2 3 1 1 
			 2008 111 94 4 3 0 0 3 3 
			 2009 January to April 117 80 12 8 6 4 12 8 
		
	
	Information on delays to RAF Tristar aircraft undertaking the passenger airbridge outbound from the UK to Op Herrick is given in the following table. Delays have been measured against scheduled time of arrival. The data is held by financial year and percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
	
		
			  Op Herrick RAF Tristar UK to theatre 
			  Financial year  Operated on time or within 1 hour  % on time or within 1 hour .  Delayed 1-3 hours  % 1-3 hours  Delayed 3-6 hours  % 3-6 hours  Delayed 6 hours and over  % 6 hours and over 
			 2007-08 176 72 44 18 19 8 5 2 
			 2008-09 152 57 59 22 29 11 25 9 
		
	
	Information on delays to RAF Tristar aircraft undertaking the passenger airbridge inbound from the Op Herrick theatre to the UK are only available from January 2008 and are given in the following table. Delays are measured against the scheduled time of departure from theatre and the available statistics only allow identification of delays of between 1-3 hours and over 3 hours. The data is held by financial year and percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
	
		
			  Op Herrick RAF Tristar theatre to UK 
			   Operated on time or within 1 hour  % on time or within 1 hour  Delayed 1 -3 hours  % 1-3 hours  Delayed 3 hours and over  % 3 hours and over 
			 2008 January to March 30 67 7 16 8 18 
			 Financial year 2008-09 121 51 59 25 55 23

Armed Forces: Higher Education

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many  (a) Masters and  (b) doctoral military students attending the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom his Department has funded since 2003;
	(2)  what expenditure his Department incurred on postgraduate education for serving members of the armed forces in each year since 2003; and what estimate he has made of such expenditure in each of the next three years.

Bill Rammell: Three colleges within the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom offer courses which are classed as post-graduate education and include either masters or doctorates.
	The fees and numbers attending post-graduate education at the Defence Academy College of Management and Technology for serving members of the armed forces in the period 2003-12 are shown in the table:
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Academic year  Cost (£ million)  Military staff on masters courses  Military staff on doctorates 
			 2002-03 9.5 (1)— (1)— 
			 2003-04 9.4 (1)— (1)— 
			 2004-05 9.9 (1)— (1)— 
			 2005-06 9.0 248 3 
			 2006-07 6.4 315 7 
			 2007-08 7.8 366 13 
			 2008-09 6.9 418 11 
			 2009-10 7.4 470 15 
			 2010-11 (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 2011-12 (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 (1) This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. (2 )Costs and student numbers are not planned to vary significantly from the 2009-10 figures during these two academic years although there may be a modest increase in numbers.  Notes: 1. Figures are provided by academic year (1 September-31 July). 2. The figures in the cost column do not include: salaries of students, accommodation costs or Defence Academy overheads. The figures cover die cost of all post-graduate courses and activities during that academic year but it should be noted that some civil servants and overseas students will also have attended these courses and their costs have not been separated out. 
		
	
	The fees and charges relating to a Masters Degree offered by Royal College of Defence Studies are as follows:
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Academic year  Cost (£ million)  Military staff undertaking a masters 
			 2003 0.009 3 
			 2004 0.020 6 
			 2005 0.036 11 
			 2006 0.036 11 
			 2007 0.022 6 
			 2008 0.018 5 
			 2009 0.049 11 
			 2010-11-12 (1)0.066 (1)8 
			 (1 )Per year  Note: The RCDS offers to its membership an optional MA in International Studies. The option is usually taken up by a quarter of the course. The RCDS course itself provides 60 per cent. of the MA with the remaining 40 per cent. being completed through supplementary seminars, essays, dissertations and exams. 
		
	
	The fees and charges relating to Masters Degree offered by Joint Services Command and Staff College during the Advanced Command and Staff Course are as follows:
	
		
			  Table 3 
			  Academic year  Cost (£ million)  Military staff undertaking a masters 
			 2002-03 0.042 139 
			 2003-04 0.040 130 
			 2004-05 0.041 135 
			 2005-06 0.044 148 
			 2006-07 0.043 143 
			 2007-08 0.046 152 
			 2008-09 0.048 161 
			 2010-11-12 0.048 (1)160 
			 (1) Proposed  Note: These are not full term masters degrees, they are post graduate degrees gained through supplementary work and an exam on top of the accreditation to the masters degree earned through participation on the JSCSC Advanced Command and Staff Course. 
		
	
	The information requested relating to the courses attended by service personnel outside of the Defence Academy is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Mental Health

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the incidence of  (a) post-traumatic stress disorder and  (b) other mental illnesses among soldiers in each age group who have served in (i) Bosnia, (ii) Kosovo, (iii) Iraq and (iv) Afghanistan.

Kevan Jones: The MOD's Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation publishes statistics on new attendances to the MOD's Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) in the UK Armed Forces Psychiatric Morbidity reports. Reports for the whole of 2007 and 2008 are now available both in the Library of the House and on the DASA website at:
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	DASA only analyses attendances by deployment on recent operations to the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of operation. Breakdowns by deployment to Bosnia and Kosovo could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The following table shows the number of new attendances at the MOD's DCMHs in 2008 who were assessed as having a mental disorder at an initial assessment and who had been deployed to the Iraq theatre of operation prior to their appointment. The number of these individuals who were assessed as having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is also included.
	
		
			  Age  Strength  Patients assessed with a mental disorder  Of which :  A ssessed with PTSD 
			 Under 20 1,100 33 — 
			 20 to 24 16,000 353 28 
			 25 to 29 23,100 403 26 
			 30 to 34 17,400 250 21 
			 35 to 39 19,500 286 20 
			 40 to 44 9,600 102 — 
			 45 to 49 4,200 28 0 
			 50+ 1,700 8 0 
			 '—' Signifies a number fewer than 5. 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of new attendances at the MOD's DCMHs in 2008, who were assessed as having a mental disorder at an initial assessment and who had been deployed to the Afghanistan theatre of operation prior to their appointment. The number of these individuals who were assessed as having PTSD is also included.
	
		
			  Age  Strength  Patients assessed with a mental disorder  Of which:  Assessed with PTSD 
			 Under 20 1,000 35 0 
			 20 to 24 9,700 174 22 
			 25 to 29 11,200 171 12 
			 30 to 34 7,700 108 14 
			 35 to 39 8,000 115 8 
			 40 to 44 3,900 43 — 
			 45 to 49 1,800 11 0 
			 50+ 700 4 — 
			 '—' Signifies a number fewer than 5. 
		
	
	Both tables include individuals who have been deployed to both the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of operation. Therefore, some individuals will appear in both tables.
	Finally, the following table shows the number of new attendances at the MOD's DCMHs in 2008 who were assessed as having a mental disorder at an initial assessment and who had not deployed to either the Iraq or Afghanistan theatres of operation prior to their appointment. The number of these individuals who were assessed as having PTSD is also included.
	
		
			  Age  Strength  Patients assessed with a mental disorder  Of which:  Assessed with PTSD 
			 Under 20 13,600 213 8 
			 20 to 24 22,000 440 7 
			 25 to 29 14,400 235 — 
			 30 to 34 8,300 167 — 
			 35 to 39 10,900 174 — 
			 40 to 44 7,300 76 — 
			 45 to 49 5,000 44 — 
			 50+ 3,600 20 — 
			 '—' Signifies a number fewer than 5.

Armed Forces: Mental Health

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what provision has been made for the psychological rehabilitation of members of the armed forces returning from military operations; how much funding has been made available for such provision in 2009-10; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what percentage of members of the armed forces returned from military operations with  (a) a psychological disorder and  (b) post-traumatic stress disorder in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: Diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in the armed forces is performed by fully trained and accredited mental health personnel, and measures are in place to increase awareness at all levels and to mitigate the development of operational stresses. In Afghanistan, we deploy uniformed mental health nurses to provide the necessary in-theatre care and treatment for our personnel. If personnel need to leave the operational environment, then their care continues either on an out or in-patient basis in the UK.
	In the UK, our mental health services are configured to provide community-based mental health care, primarily through our 15 military departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) across the UK (plus satellite centres overseas), which provide out-patient mental health care. The DCMH mental health teams comprise psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists and mental health social workers. A wide range of psychiatric and psychological treatments are available (including psychological therapies, environmental adjustment and medication) where appropriate. The Defence Mental Health Services have particular expertise in treatments for psychological injury.
	For the relatively small number of patients who need it, in-patient care is currently provided by a group of seven NHS trusts located throughout England and Scotland, led by South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust (SSSFT) through a central MOD contract.
	The organisational structure of the Defence Medical Services means that comprehensive figures for mental health care expenditure cannot be provided without disproportionate cost as the sums involved are disaggregated and embedded in the budgets of individual military units and overall operational budgets. Under the contract with SSSFT, payment for in-patient care is made on a case-by-case basis; as a point of comparison, payments totalling £3.3 million were made for in-patient care in 2008-09; most of this was paid to the previous in-patient provider.
	Since July 2007 the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation has reported on the Psychiatric Morbidity of the UK Armed Forces. Quarterly reports for 2007 and 2008 are available in the Library of the House and on the DASA website found at the following link:
	www.dasa.mod.uk

Armed Forces: Training

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the drop-out rate is of each recruit training establishment listed in the Ofsted report on the duty of care for recruits and trainees in the armed forces.

Bill Rammell: The drop-out percentages for financial year 2008-09 (termed as Premature Voluntary Outflow—this comprises all those who elected to leave the service of their own accord) for the training establishments listed in the Ofsted Report on the duty of care for recruits and trainees in the armed forces, are shown in the following table. The percentages shown are typical of what the Department expect given the nature of the military training undertaken:
	
		
			  Training establishment  Drop-out rate (percentage) (rounded to nearest 1 per cent.) 
			 25 Training Regiment-Deepcut 21 
			 Defence Medical Services Training Centre 5 
			 HMS Raleigh 7 
			 Army Training Centre, Pirbright 19 
			 RAF Halton, Recruit Training Squadron 9 
			 Defence School of Transport 8 
			 RAF Regiment, Regimental Training Squadron (Basics), RAF Honington 27 
			 Army School of Ammunition, Kineton 18 
			 Commando Training Centre, Royal Marines 31 
			 Army Training Regiment, Bassingbourn 19 
			 Army Training Regiment, Winchester 21 
			 Infantry Training Centre, Catterick 24

Armed Forces: Training

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he plans to award the pre-contract agreement letter on Defence Training Renew Package 1 to the preferred bidder.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The mandatory sitting 14 days for the PCAL2 Review Note submitted in the Departmental Minute to Parliament on 26 June expired on 17 July. However, the PCAL2 underwrite is still subject to the normal process of negotiation and agreement with the preferred bidder, which is ongoing.

Armed Forces: Young People

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) males and  (b) females under 18 years old of each (i) age, (ii) ethnic origin and (iii) disability have been detained with adults in the Military Correction Training Centre in Colchester in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The Military Correction Training Centre (MCTC) is a key pillar of the military criminal justice system, which has proved to be successful. It is not a prison, it is a military unit, established for military corrective training. It provides detention facilities for men and women of the armed forces and can hold a number of different categories of detainees, the majority of whom are not sentenced for criminal offences and return to their military duties on release.
	The provision of information broken down into the categories requested may lead to the identification of one or more of the individuals. This information is regarded as sensitive data and its release would contravene the Department's policy on disclosure and confidentiality.
	The total number of personnel under 18 years of age who have been detained in the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester in each of the last full years is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of personnel 
			 2004-05 15 
			 2005-06 (1)— 
			 2006-07 10 
			 2007-08 5 
			 2008-09 (1)— 
			 2009-10 (1)— 
			 (1) Fewer than 5. 
		
	
	The figures have been rounded to the nearest five to limit disclosure and ensure confidentiality.

Army: Manpower

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the  (a) required and  (b) actual personnel medically fit for purpose strength is for each battalion of the infantry;
	(2)  what the  (a) required,  (b) actual and  (c) fit for duty strength of each infantry battalion is.

Bill Rammell: The Army's manning situation is improving fast due to a number of factors including the introduction of exceptional action measures, financial incentives, improved marketing and the current economic situation. However, there will be fluctuations in the strength of individual battalions, according to their planned duties at any specific time.
	'Required strength' has been interpreted as the maximum number of posts in a battalion's peace time configuration.
	'Actual strength' has been interpreted as the number of personnel assigned to a battalion for its planned duties. It will also include augmentees who are temporarily assigned if needed to support the role of the battalion (for operational military tasks and events that cannot be achieved within required strengths). Similarly, the figures exclude those assigned out of the battalion to augment other units.
	'Fit for duty' has been interpreted as fit for primary role, including personnel listed as having limited deployability, plus personnel who are unfit for deployment but who can perform a role in an alternative capacity. The difference between the actual strength and number fit for duty represents those who are medically non-effective, i.e. are unfit for any form of duty.
	'Medically fit for purpose' has been interpreted as fit for primary role, including personnel listed as having limited deployability, but excluding those who are not fit to deploy and those who are medically non-effective for any form of duty.
	The figures requested are shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  Division  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Number fit for duty  Number medically fit for purpose 
			  Guards 1 Grenadier Guards 632 549 544 502 
			  1 Coldstream Guards 629 587 557 534 
			  1 Scots Guards 685 580 574 549 
			  1 Irish Guards 633 584 583 561 
			  1 Welsh Guards 626 608 596 570 
			   
			  Scots 1 Scots 630 493 493 454 
			  2 Scots 627 479 473 437 
			  3 Scots 629 616 611 595 
			  4 Scots 686 548 522 497 
			  5 Scots 657 535 533 517 
			   
			  Queens 1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 685 638 626 598 
			  2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment 605 588 588 566 
			  1 Royal Regt. Fusiliers 686 616 610 597 
			  2 Royal Regt. Fusiliers 626 546 539 516 
			  1 Royal Anglian 670 707 692 665 
			  2 Royal Anglian 629 635 627 604 
			   
			  Kings 1 Lancs 658 684 676 619 
			  2 Lancs 612 597 593 572 
			  1 Yorks 629 586 574 572 
			  2 Yorks 623 495 494 459 
			  3 Yorks 686 549 541 497 
			   
			  Prince of Wales 1 Mercian incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 2 628 612 608 573 
			  2 Mercian 623 549 544 527 
			  3 Mercian 659 616 610 570 
			  1 Royal Welsh 623 580 577 551 
			  2 Royal Welsh 751 679 671 633 
			   
			  Rifles 1 Rifles 623 683 683 654 
			  2 Rifles 623 679 668 647 
			  3 Rifles 623 634 632 631 
			  4 Rifles 711 682 677 660 
			  5 Rifles 686 785 -785 763 •-- 
			   
			  Royal Irish 1 Royal Irish 650 564 554 529 
			   
			  Para 2 Para 650 633 617 602 
			  3 Para 650 603 602 590 
			   
			  Royal Gurkha Rifles 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles 643 631 623 612 
			  2 Royal Gurkha Rifles incl. Gurkha Reinforcement Company 1 758 841 838 807 
		
	
	In addition to the battalions shown above there are three incremental Guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other Guards battalions as required;
	
		
			  Unit  Required strength  Actual strength  Number fit for duty  Number medically fit for purpose 
			 Nijmegen Coy Grenadier Guards 108 110 110 101 
			 7 Coy Coldstream Guards 108 82 81 77 
			 F Coy Scots Guards 108 93 92 90 
		
	
	The figures in both tables include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen.

Departmental Buildings

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what properties  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies have sold in each of the last five years; and how many have been sold for housing developments.

Kevan Jones: I will place a copy of the list of land and property sold by the Department and its agencies in each of the last five years, together with an indication of the expected planning use in the Library of the House. This replaces any previous lists. It should be noted that actual future use is a matter for the purchasers and local planning authorities to determine.
	The MOD and the Department for Communities and Local Government are delivering affordable housing as part of wider government agenda. We have in the past sold a large number of strategic sites to DCLG, including Oakington barracks in Cambridge, Connaught barracks in Dover and Roussillon barracks in Chichester. This relationship continues with other sites at Aldershot, Daws Hill and Borden being currently discussed.
	 Substantive answer from Kev a n Jones to Grant Shapps:
	In my answer of 27 April (Official Report, column 1022W) I undertook to write to you with details of what Ministry of Defence (MOD) properties have been sold in each of the last five years and how many have been sold for housing developments.
	The requested list of properties, including details of their expected planning use, has been placed in the Library of the House.
	This list does not include details of sites which subsequent to sale by this Department may have been sold on and then used for residential development. This issue is would be a matter for the new owner and MOD does not maintain a record of such cases.

Departmental Housing

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of accommodation of  (a) one,  (b) two and  (c) three or more bedrooms his Department retains for the purposes of accommodating serving (i) officers and (ii) officials on long-term secondment to his Department; and what his most recent estimate is of the average annual (A) gross and (B) net cost of each type of accommodation in each such category.

Kevan Jones: I will write to the hon. Member.
	 Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Neil Turner:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 14 May 2009 (Official Report, column 946W), about Service accommodation for senior Officers and officials on long term secondment to the Department.
	Service accommodation is provided to house entitled Service personnel and their families in accordance with the entitlements set out in the Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations (TSARs). The Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently holds the following numbers of Service Family Accommodation properties (SFA) to accommodate entitled senior officers:
	
		
			  Type  Bedrooms  Indicative Entitlement  UK SFA  Overseas SFA 
			 I 4/5 Major General and equivalent and above 68 9 
			 II 4/5 Colonel and equivalent and above 316 36 
		
	
	Senior Officers may also occupy SFA of a lesser type in cases where SFA to entitlement is not available or other circumstances set-out in the TSARs.
	All Officers of the equivalent Rank of Major and above are entitled to Single Living Accommodation (SLA) comprising of an en-suite bedroom and separate sitting area. There are currently 2,418 SLA bed-spaces of this type in the UK with a further 219 overseas.
	The information on cost is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	The MOD does not retain any accommodation for the purposes of accommodating civilian officials. However, in areas where there is a temporary surplus of SFA, eligible civilians may occupy properties on a non-entitled basis, on the understanding that it be vacated if required for an entitled Service family. The number of civilians who occupy SFA on this basis is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Military Aircraft

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) required and  (b) actual crew number for each aircraft type in the armed forces was in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The historical information requested is not held centrally and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
	The required and actual crew number for each aircraft type in the armed forces as at 9 July 2009 is given in the following table. Air crew numbers fluctuate on a day-by-day basis as individuals are re-assigned, medically down graded or leave the service. The variations in the required and actual crew numbers are principally due to an increased requirement to support new and increased aircraft types, such as the Typhoon, where it takes time to train aircrew to meet the associated manpower requirement. Similarly, aircraft types such as the Hercules C130K and Tornado F3, are in the process of drawing down and crew numbers are temporarily in excess of requirement. These changes are reflected in the figures however, action is taken to ensure that current operations are not affected.
	
		
			  Aircraft type  Required  Actual 
			  Royal Navy:   
			 Lynx Mk 3/8 133 124 
			 Merlin Mk 1 189 174 
			 Sea King Mk 5 68 65 
			 Sea King Mk 7 46 43 
			
			  Army Air Corps:   
			 Apache AH Mk 1 100 80 
			 Lynx Mk 7/9 100 106 
			 Gazelle Mk 1 34 34 
			 Dauphin N3 AH Mk 1 7 6 
			 Bell 212 24 24 
			 SAAVN 46 41 
			
			  Royal Air Force:   
			 Hercules C130J 201 191 
			 Hercules C130K 178 168 
			 VC10 146 124 
			 TriStar 103 98 
			 C17A 91 81 
			 HS125 17 16 
			 BAel46 10 7 
			 Tornado GR4 267 248 
			 Typhoon 67 60 
			 Tornado F3 32 50 
			 Nimrod MR2 320 273 
			 Nimrod R1 119 103 
			 Sentinel R1 35 24 
			 E3D 114 94 
			 KingAir 32 27 
			 Dominie 51 40 
			 Tutor EFT 35 47 
			 Tutor 15 21 
			 Tucano 56 54 
			 Hawk 102 89 
			 Puma 127 129 
			 Chinook 262 222 
			 Merlin 159 130 
			 Squirrel 20 19 
			 SeaKing 140 132 
			 Griffin 62 61 
			 Augusta 109 5 5 
			 Reaper 34 34 
			 Islander 8 8 
			
			  Navy and RAF:   
			 Joint Force Harrier 66 66

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) planned and  (b) actual average flying hours for each helicopter type in the (i) Army, (ii) Royal Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force were in each month of (A) 2008 and (B) 2009 to date.

Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for the Armed Forces on 7 January 2008,  Official Report, column 44W.
	Between November 2006 and April 2009, we have increased flying hours for helicopters in Afghanistan by 84 per cent.
	The following tables give the total planned and actual flying hours, including training as well as operations, for each helicopter type by month from January 2008 to May 2009:
	
		
			  Army Air Corps 
			   Apache  Augusta  Gazelle  Lynx Mk7/9 
			   Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual 
			  2008 
			 January 1,119 861 80 67 1,186 706 1,152 1,341 
			 February 1,259 1,270 90 68 1,334 937 1,296 1,685 
			 March 1,259 1,096 90 89 1,334 968 1,296 1,581 
			 April 1,152 1,085 80 100 875 1,007 1,655 1,543 
			 May 1,058 1,110 90 73 984 1,092 1,428 1,184 
			 June 1,152 1,180 90 94 984 1,325 1,428 1,381 
			 July 1,199 1,195 90 155 984 1,340 1,428 1,465 
			 August 1,246 1,231 60 83 656 1,046 1,057 885 
			 September 1,199 1,459 100 122 1,094 1,104 1,552 1,529 
			 October 1,293 1,171 90 104 984 1,070 1,778 1,578 
			 November 1,340 1,067 80 61 875 726 1,655 1,707 
			 December 920 947 60 66 656 442 1,407 1,022 
			  
			  2009 
			 January 1,249 1,112 80 46 875 440 1,655 1,293 
			 February 1,202 1,217 90 56 984 514 1,778 1,343 
			 March 1,390 1,657 90 72 984 564 1,778 1,880 
			 April 1,320 940 80 100 495 565 1,559 1,532 
			 May 1,151 936 90 49 549 647 1,376 802 
		
	
	
		
			  Royal Navy 
			   Lynx Mk3  Lynx Mk8  Merlin Mk1 
			   Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual 
			  2008   
			 January 555 537 555 421 387 332 
			 February 555 658 555 513 387 280 
			 March 555 447 555 490 366 142 
			 April 200 439 200 548 199 295 
			 May 555 469 555 463 334 232 
			 June 555 588 555 541 334 214 
			 July 555 658 555 432 334 189 
			 August 200 198 200 164 198 38 
			 September 560 619 560 570 334 283 
			 October 555 600 555 403 334 396 
			 November 555 609 555 343 334 150 
			 December 200 429 200 287 198 142 
			
			  2009   
			 January 334 207 555 456 856 439 
			 February 334 205 555 339 1,006 484 
			 March 203 177 555 395 950 631 
			 April 342 153 190 377 600 513 
			 May 517 485 517 388 980 603 
		
	
	
		
			   Sea King Mk4/6  Sea King  Mk5  Sea  King  Mk7 
			   Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual 
			  2008   
			 January 387 332 441 323 909 991 
			 February 387 280 441 401 1,023 992 
			 March 366 142 439 298 1,023 917 
			 April 199 295 228 366 895 877 
			 May 334 232 382 373 1,007 1,084 
			 June 334 214 382 318 1,007 1,099 
			 July 334 189 382 361 1,007 1,085 
			 August 198 38 228 310 671 585 
			 September 334 283 382 362 1,118 1,143 
			 October 334 396 382 365 1,007 1,121 
			 November 334 150 382 359 895 1,038 
			 December 198 142 382 304 671 793 
			  2009   
			 January 334 144 383 388 1,118 1,122 
			 February 334 207 382 412 1,007 887 
			 March 334 205 382 366 783 1,105 
			 April 203 177 243 334 1,155 832 
			 May 342 153 408 460 1,267 1,068 
		
	
	
		
			  Royal Air Force 
			   Chinook  Merlin Mk  3/3a  Puma  Sea King Mk  3/3a 
			   Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual  Planned  Actual 
			  2008 
			 January 1,268 1,182 503 401 963 748 900 820 
			 February 1,300 1,120 473 440 1,084 582 900 820 
			 March 1,300 1,130 590 519 1,084 647 900 820 
			 April 1,344 1,404 559 595 1,012 793 791 790 
			 May 1,336 1,223 531 518 1,101 813 791 790 
			 June 1,365 1,289 569 551 1,051 676 791 790 
			 July 1,422 1,471 600 560 1,051 781 791 790 
			 August 1,292 1,329 651 467 784 643 791 790 
			 September 1,394 1,333 649 604 1,140 725 791 790 
			 October 1,372 1,432 719 680 1051 799 791 790 
			 November 1,336 1,168 711 498 962 762 791 790 
			 December 1,132 847 515 462 784 516 791 790 
			  
			  2009 
			 January 1,306 1,079 665 555 962 708 791 790 
			 February 1,306 1,267 649 524 1,051 677 791 790 
			 March 1,307 1,539 732 638 1,051 926 791 790 
			 April 1,303 1,353 744 611 885 569 851 760 
			 May 1,310 1,183 744 579 886 801 851 855 
		
	
	It is normal for there to be considerable variation between monthly "Planned" and "Actual" flying hours. "Planned" hours are based on the total amount of flying that could be supported by the Platform Project Teams for a given aircraft type and are not broken down by individual airframe. There is no requirement to hold data on average flying hours. The figures are agreed in Joint Business Agreements (JBAs) between Front Line Commands (FLCs) and the Defence Equipment and Support organisation, and are forecast up to a year ahead. The month by month Profile is to enable forward resource planning within the overall total for the year, not a definitive prediction of requirements, which will vary during the year.
	"Actual" hours are the total of all hours flown for training and on operations.
	The reasons why actual hours may be less than planned include aircraft unavailability through routine maintenance, running repairs, essential upgrades and modification programmes; air crew unavailability through recuperation, absence on training courses, and leave; changes in training schedules; adverse weather; or cancellation of tasking. Taskings on operations clearly depend on mission requirements at any given time, which are difficult to predict several months ahead.
	Flying hours required for training are managed within this framework by the FLCs but priority is given to operations.
	"Planned" flying hours not consumed may be carried forward into subsequent months. Hours flown on operations in excess of the year's JBA total flying hours may be funded by the reserve.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the merits of equipping UK military helicopters with air-to-air refueling capabilities.

Quentin Davies: While we keep our helicopter capabilities under review, there is currently no requirement to equip our helicopters with air-to-air refuelling capabilities.

NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on UK membership of the NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

Bob Ainsworth: The United Kingdom is fully supportive of this Estonian-hosted Cyber Defence initiative and their endeavours in this important area. However, given the need to co-ordinate Cyber Defence with a number of other Government Departments and Allies, the MOD's preferred means of support is by participation in specific mutually beneficial workstreams rather than attach personnel permanently to Estonia. The United Kingdom is not formally a sponsoring nation of this Centre of Excellence but this position will be kept under review.
	Both the current Head of the MOD Defence Security and Assurance Service and his predecessor, as well as other senior officers, have visited the Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, participated in their conferences, and provided additional assistance to its development over the past two years.

Navy: Drug Seizures

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what drug seizures were made by Royal Navy vessels since 1997; where the seizures took place; what the value of each seizure was; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member.
	 Substantive answer from Bill Rammell to Nick Harvey:
	In my predecessor's written answer, on 12 May 2009, (Official Report, column 753w), it was undertaken to write to you regarding your request for a list of the drug seizures made by Royal Naval vessels since 1997; where the seizures took place; and what the value of each seizure was. In the course of this research, US officials have been consulted, who have kindly shared information from their own very detailed records.
	As you will recognize, disrupting illegal trafficking of weapons and narcotics is among the many important tasks we ask our Armed Forces to conduct. The Royal Navy conducts Flag State Verification procedures on Gulf Region Shipping and has also provided significant support to US counter narcotics operations in the Caribbean. Further disruption operations are conducted whenever opportunities arise during the Royal Navy's standing patrol tasks, including within UK territorial waters, in support of operations led by the Serious Organised Crime Agency. These operations have contributed to the seizure of large quantities of illegal narcotics which otherwise might have ended up on UK, US and European streets. A comprehensive list of seizures since 1997 is set out below. This information updates previous estimates and draws on additional information provided by US law enforcement officials.
	
		
			  Year  Month  Unit  Location  Quantity  Est  v alue  (£) 
			 1997 Apr HMS York Home Waters 4 tonnes cannabis 11.5 million 
			  June HMS Edinburgh Home Waters 3 tonnes cannabis 8.6 million 
			   
			 1998 June HMS Monmouth Home Waters 2 tonnes cannabis 8 million 
			   
			 1999 Mar HMS Marlborough Caribbean 0.5 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 20 million 
			  May HMS Marlborough Caribbean 4.7 tonnes 188 million 
			  May HMS Marlborough Caribbean 4.6 tonnes 184 million 
			  Aug HMS Northumberland Caribbean 0.45 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 18 million 
			  Oct HMS Northumberland Caribbean 0.85 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 34 million 
			  Nov HMS Northumberland Caribbean 2.12 tonnes; 7 Kgs of heroin 85 million 
			   
			 2000 Jun HMS Manchester Caribbean 0.85 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned 34 million 
			   
			 2001 Sep HMS Coventry Belize 1200 Kgs cocaine 48 million 
			   
			 2002 Jul HMS Newcastle Caribbean 100 bales Marijuana note 2 
			  Jul HMS Newcastle Caribbean 23 bales cocaine note 2 
			  Sep HMS Grafton Caribbean 21 bales Marijuana note 2 
			  Oct HMS Grafton Caribbean 750 Kg Cocaine 30 million 
			  Nov HMS Grafton Caribbean 7 bales Marijuana (5 bales lost) note 2 
			   
			 2003 May HMS Cumberland Home Waters 3800 Kgs cocaine 152 million 
			  Jun HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 131 Bales/3275Kg Cocaine 131 million 
			  Sep RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 116lbs marijuana 152,000 
			  Oct HMS Manchester Caribbean 1052 Kgs cocaine 42 million 
			   
			 2004 Jan RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 650Kgs cocaine 26 million 
			  Nov RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 1.8 tonnes cocaine 72 million 
			   
			 2005 Jan RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 1.8 tonnes cocaine 72 million 
			  Jan RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 1.7 tonnes cocaine 68 million 
			  Mar RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 1.5 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 40 million 
			  Feb RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 0.93 tonnes cocaine 37 million 
			  May HMS Liverpool/RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 400 lbs cannabis; 0.998 tonnes cocaine; further 0.3 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned by smugglers 53 million 
			  Jun HMS Liverpool Caribbean 850 lbs cannabis; 0.3 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers. 13 million 
			  Jul RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 3.0 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 120 million 
			  Sep HMS Cumberland Caribbean 1.5 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 60 million 
			  Oct HMS Cumberland/RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 1.756 tonnes cocaine 70 million 
			   
			 2006 Feb HMS Southampton/RFA Grey Rover Caribbean 2.223 tonnes cocaine; a further 2.0 tonnes (assessed) jettisoned by smugglers. 169 million 
			  Sep RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 2.5 tonnes cocaine 100 million 
			  Oct RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 2.789 tonnes cocaine 112 million 
			  Oct HMS Argyll/RFA Gold Rover Atlantic (West Africa) 1.5 tonnes cocaine 60 million 
			  Nov HMS Argyll/RFA Fort Austin 849 NAS East Atlantic 1.33 tonnes cocaine 53 million 
			  Nov RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 4.0 tonnes cocaine 160 million 
			  Nov RFA Wave Ruler Caribbean 2.04 tonnes cocaine 82 million 
			  Dec HMS Lancaster W Africa 3.5 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 140 million 
			   HMS Iron Duke East Atlantic   
			   
			 2007 May HMS Ocean Caribbean 12 Bales cocaine note 2 
			  Jun HMS Ocean Caribbean 329 Kgs cocaine; 20 Kgs heroin 14 million 
			  Oct HMS Portland/RFA Wave Knight Caribbean 3.3 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 132 million 
			  Dec RFA Largs Bay Caribbean 1.125 tonnes cocaine 45 million 
			   
			 2008 Mar HMS Edinburgh Middle East 7 tonnes hashish 20 million 
			  Apr HMS Montrose Middle East Waters 6-10 tonnes hashish (assessed) jettisoned by smugglers. 17 million-29 million 
			  Mar HMS Edinburgh Middle East Waters 3.5 tonnes hashish 10 million 
			  Apr HMS Montrose Middle East Waters 10 tonnes hashish 29 million 
			  Apr HMS Chatham Middle East Waters 6 tonnes hashish 17 million 
			  Jun HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 1.125 tonnes cocaine 45 million 
			  Jul HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 1.2 tonnes (assessed) cocaine jettisoned by smugglers 48 million 
			  Jul HMS Iron Duke Caribbean 2477 coca field plants from helicopter survey. n/a 
			  Sep HMS Argyll RFA/Fort Austin Home Waters 100 kg cocaine 4 million 
			  Oct HMS Northumberland Middle East 20 Kg Hashish 1000 Kg (assessed) jettisoned 2.9 million 
			  Dec HMS Portland Middle East 1.4 tonnes hashish 4 million 
			   
			 2009 Feb HMS Richmond Middle East Waters 80-90 bales (approx 2000kg) of hashish jettisoned by smugglers 5.7 million 
			  Apr HMS Portland Middle East 27 bales (each of 31 Kgs) hashish (837 Kgs) 2.4 million 
			  Notes: 1. SOCA estimates, as at June 2009, of UK street values have been applied to all seizures. 2. Where only the number of bales is known/estimated, but not their weight, no street value can be estimated retrospectively. 
		
	
	The results from forensic analysis of the many seizures in the Caribbean, provided to us by the American Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (South), have enabled us to update many of our previous estimates of the size of these seizures. Our previous answers were drawn from figures often estimated by the UK vessel at the time of the interdiction; subsequent investigations by law enforcement officials would usually have been completed after the UK vessel had left the vicinity and thus not reflected in the initial UK estimate. For interdictions when cargoes were jettisoned by the traffickers we have continued to provide the sizes assessed by the UK crew before the contraband was lost.
	The table also includes a small number of additional interdictions that have not previously been reported. In some cases these omissions are due to different approaches by individual UK ships in recording an incident as a 'seizure' or as an 'interdiction' (which may have resulted in a jettison). In others cases the reliance upon disparate ships' records may have resulted in a small number of accidental omissions as our historic responses were consolidated. The positive outcome is that the Royal Navy has had an even greater impact on narcotics trafficking than previously reported.
	It is very difficult to estimate street value of the illegal drugs seized or destroyed in these operations. The price varies greatly depending on a number of factors including supply and demand, the intended destination of the product as well as the purity of the drugs themselves when they reach their market. Not all of the seized drugs would have been intended for the UK, however for simplicity the estimated values in the table are based on the assumption that the product would have reached the UK with street values of £40,000 per kilogram of cocaine, of £45,000 per kilogram of heroin and of £2,880 per kilogram of cannabis.
	In agreement with the Serious Organised Crime Agency these valuations have been applied retrospectively across the entire historical record; thus detailing estimated values of seizures as if they had reached UK streets in 2009. We have done this because there is no reliable record of street values year on year since 1997, particularly prior to the Agency's creation in 2006. Where only the number and not size of bales seized were recorded, we have not attempted to assign a street value.
	The successes of these counter narcotics operations are considerable and to ensure that a full and accurate picture is maintained in future, I have put in place revised record-keeping policies and established a more centralised reporting mechanism which will be updated where possible with US post-forensic results.
	I hope you will find this information useful.
	I am copying this letter to other MPs who have asked similar questions in the past.

Nuclear Weapons

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals the Government intends to make at the next NATO summit on  (a) nuclear sharing,  (b) nuclear first-strike and  (c) the reliance by NATO members on nuclear weapons as a guarantee for their security; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: The Declaration on Alliance Security that was agreed in April at the NATO summit in Strasbourg/Kehl makes clear that
	"Deterrence, based on an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional capabilities, remains a core element of (the Alliance's) overall strategy".
	This provides the basis of discussions between Allies on a revised Strategic Concept for NATO, which is due to be agreed at next year's summit meeting. The UK will play a full part in these discussions.

White Phosphorus

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Fife North East, on 1 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 48-49W, on white phosphorus, in which theatres of operation UK forces have used white phosphorus in the last 10 years; and whether his Department has taken steps to establish the long-term health effects of such usage on people exposed to the munitions.

Bob Ainsworth: In the last five years, white phosphorus munitions have been used by UK forces in both the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of operation, information covering the last 10 years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	White phosphorus munitions are only used by UK forces to protect troops on operations by producing a smoke screen to provide cover in accordance with the Third Protocol of the UN Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the use of Certain Conventional Weapons, ratified by the UK in 1995, when it became illegal to use white phosphorus as a primary incendiary weapon under UK law. Training of UK forces in the use of white phosphorus emphasises that it should only be used for its intended purpose; as an obscurant and not as an anti-personnel weapon. White phosphorus is always used in accordance with UK Rules of Engagement and UK forces will do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties, whatever weapons are being deployed.
	The Ministry of Defence has not carried out any work on possible long-term health effects resulting from exposure to white phosphorous.

Air Travel Organisers Licence

Julian Brazier: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will make an assessment of the merits of introducing a permanent increase in the level of the Air Travel Organisers Licence protection contribution.

Chris Mole: A written ministerial statement laid in the House on 16 July 2009 announced that the Secretary of State for Transport had approved the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) recommendation to increase the Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL) Protection Contribution (APC) to £2.50 per passenger, with effect from 1 October 2009. The CAA intend to review the level of the APC before the Air Travel Trust Fund deficit has been repaid, projected to be by the end of March 2012.

Automatic Train Protection

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of the high-speed passenger network operates with automatic train protection.

Chris Mole: Automatic Train Protection (ATP) is currently provided on part of the Great Western Mainline, on High Speed One, Heathrow Express and part of the Chiltern route out of Marylebone (although the last two routes are not high speed). The Department for Transport has published on its website the deployment plan for the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which includes ATP. The Department's ERTMS deployment plan can be found at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/165234/349552/ukertmsplan.pdf
	In the meantime, the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS)—a form of intermittent ATP has been installed where appropriate across the entire rail network, and has resulted in a 85 per cent. fall in risk from Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs).

Bus Services: Concessions

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the concessionary bus travel scheme on levels of bus usage by older people; and if he will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: The table shows that the number of bus passenger journeys in England increased by 6.5 per cent. in the year following the introduction of free local concessionary fares in April 2006 and by 3.2 per cent. in the year following the introduction of the national concession in April 2008. However, these statistics count journeys made by all passengers, whether or not they are eligible for the free travel concession:
	
		
			  Bus passenger journeys: England, 2000-01 to 2008-09 
			   Local bus journeys (million)  Year-on-year percentage change 
			 2000-01 3,842 — 
			 2001-02 3,881 1.0 
			 2002-03 3,964 2.1 
			 2003-04 4,087 3.1 
			 2004-05 4,140 1.3 
			 2005-06 4,196 1.3 
			 2006-07 4,470 6.5 
			 2007-08 4,530 1.3 
			 2008-09 (provisional) 4,674 3.2 
			  Source: Bus and Light Rail Statistics: Q1 2009 
		
	
	The Department for Transport has commissioned research from the Institute of Transport Studies (ITS), which will consider the impact of the national and local concessionary travel schemes on overall usage of bus services. The research is due to be published early next year.

Bus Services: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 92 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, for how many years his Department plans to allocate £2.5 billion a year in support of bus services.

Sadiq Khan: Based on current assumptions and projections central and local government support for bus services is expected to be around £2.5 billion this year and over the next two financial years. Decisions on funding for bus services from the years from 2012-13 will be made when departmental budgets are allocated as part of normal Government-wide processes.

Cycling: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 92 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, for how many years his Department plans to make £60 million per annum available for cycling.

Sadiq Khan: Cycling England's current three-year budget of £140 million is allocated as follows:
	£20 million in 2008-09;
	£60 million in 2009-10; and
	£60 million in 2010-11.
	Decisions on funding for cycling for the years from 2011-12 will be made when the Department for Transport's overall budget is allocated as part of normal government-wide processes.

Cycling: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department allocated for cycle safety training in  (a) Test Valley borough and  (b) Southampton for each of the last five years.

Sadiq Khan: We have provided grants for National Standard/Bikeability cycle training to a number of local highway authorities in Hampshire since 2008-09. All bids were met in full. No bids for grant from Hampshire authorities were received prior to the 2008-09 bidding round. Details of the grants awarded are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Local authority cycle training grants 
			  £ 
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Southampton city council — — — 120,000.00 
			 Hampshire county council — — 100,000.00 200,000.00 
			 Portsmouth City Council — — — 91,400.00 
		
	
	In addition to the above funding the Wavell School in Hampshire (Farnborough) received a School Sports Partnership cycle training grant from the Department of £12,000.00 in 2006-07.

Cycling: Lancashire

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department has allocated to encourage bicycle usage in Morecambe and Lunesdale in each of the last three years.

Sadiq Khan: Lancaster with Morecambe is one of the Department for Transport's Cycle Demonstration Towns. We provided funding of £1,311,775.00 for the period 2005-08. We have extended their funding for 2009-11 which is set out in the table:
	
		
			  Lancaster with Morecambe  £ 
			 2005-08 (1 November 2005-31 March 2008) 1,311,775 
			 2008-09 500,000 
			 2009-10 500,000 
			 2010-11 500,000 
			 Total 2,809,200 
		
	
	In addition we funded a cycle training grant bid in full from Lancaster city council for the cycle demonstration town area of £15,000.00 for 2009-10.

Departmental Contracts

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many contracts let by his Department were awarded to businesses with fewer than 50 employees in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of such contracts was in each such year.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold the information centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, where the information is available, it has been set out in the following table.
	
		
			   2005  2006  2007  2008  2009( 1)  Total 
			  Department for Transport Central   
			 Number of contracts 33 20 11 9 1 74 
			 Estimated value (£) 3,997,619 5,737,100 1,326,748 4,048,384 80,000 15,189,851 
			
			  Vehicle and Operator Services Agency   
			 Number of contracts 71 58 61 55 6 251 
			 Estimated value (£) 6,720,251 4,227,811 3,712,081 2,528,622 197,450 17,386,215 
			  Driving Standards Agency   
			 Number of contracts 3 9 6 7 7 32 
			 Estimated value (£) 268,053 750,582 871,101 256,733 13,107,709 15,254,178 
			
			  Vehicle Certification Agency   
			 Number of contracts 1 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Estimated value (£) 388,330 0 0 0 0 388,330 
			
			  Total   
			 Number of contracts 108 87 78 71 14 358 
			 Estimated value (£) 11,374,253 10,715,493 15,909,930 6,833,739 13,385,159 58,218,574 
			 (1) To June 2009.  Notes: 1. The table contains the information that is available centrally for contracts that were formally tendered or contracts that were let as a call-off or mini-competition under a framework agreement within the main procurement units. It largely excludes local or low value procurement activity or purchases, and information that is not held centrally. 2. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Government Car and Despatch Agency and the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency do not keep records centrally of and the information would be available only at disproportionate costs. 3. The Highways Agency (HA) keeps records indicating which of its suppliers are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but it does not record which of these are small enterprises of fewer than 50 employees.

Departmental Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2009,  Official Report, column 427W, on carbon sequestration: finance, how much was available in total in accumulated underspends from prior years as at 28 June 2009; and by how much his Department underspent on each project in each of the last five years.

Chris Mole: "Public Expenditure 2008-09: Provisional Outturn" (Cm 7606) sets out the Department for Transport's End Year Flexibility (EYF) entitlements resulting from underspends in 2008-09 and previous years. These are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ 000 
			  Resource:  
			 Admin 66,896 
			 Programme 572,841 
			  Total Resource: 640,737 
			 Of which near cash 262,704 
			 Capital 148,378 
		
	
	Budget allocations are generally made at a programme level, rather than to individual projects, allowing managers to offset and balance the normal increases and reductions in spending in-year on those individual projects. Similarly, programme level budgets may be adjusted during the year to reflect emerging opportunities and pressures. This means that it is not possible to produce a project-by-project breakdown of annual underspends.

Departmental Pay

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the  (a) mean and  (b) median consolidated salary of full-time equivalent civil servants working in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies outside London is.

Chris Mole: The mean consolidated salary of full-time equivalent civil servants working in the Department for Transport outside of London is £23,287. The mean consolidated salary of full-time equivalent civil servants working in the Department for Transport agencies outside of London is £22,982.
	The median consolidated salary of full-time equivalent civil servants working in the Department for Transport outside of London is £19,953. The median consolidated salary of full-time equivalent civil servants working in the Department for Transport agencies outside of London is £19,953.

Departmental Public Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport to which organisations the Secretary of State makes appointments.

Chris Mole: Ministers for the Department for Transport make appointments to a range of organisations including non-departmental public bodies, such as Commission for Integrated Transport, public corporations such as the Civil Aviation Authority and Trust Ports such as Dover.
	Ministers also make appointments to the British Transport Police Authority, Cycling England, Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, Northern Lighthouse Board, Office of Rail Regulation, Passenger Focus, Railway Heritage Committee, and the Renewable Fuels Agency. The Secretary of State for Transport has powers to appoint some board members to other trust ports in England and Wales the most significant of which are London, Tyne, Harwich and Milford Haven.
	A fully comprehensive list is not held centrally in the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Travel

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has spent on  (a) Ministerial cars and drivers,  (b) taxis,  (c) train travel,  (d) the use of helicopters,  (e) airline tickets and  (f) chartered aeroplanes in each year since 1997.

Chris Mole: The Government Car and Despatch Agency is responsible for providing ministerial cars and drivers. Information for years 2000-01 to 2002-03 is as follows:
	
		
			   2000-01  2001-02  Post general election 2001  2002-03 
			   Number of cars  Annual contracted value (£)  Number of cars  Annual contracted value (£)  Number of cars  Annual contracted value (£)  Number of cars  Annual contracted value (£) 
			 Cabinet Office(1) 12 722,200 13 813,000 13 816,700 8 440,800 
			 ODPM(2) — — — — — — 6 333,600 
			 DCMS 4 214,800 4 222,000 4 222,400 4 230,500 
			 DETR(3) 8 402,700 9 464,200 — — — — 
			 DfEE/DfES(2) 8 400,000 8 412,600 7 351,200 6 317,000 
			 DRD 2 94,500 2 96,800 1 50,000 2 92200 
			 DSS(3) 5 246,100 5 253,400 — — — — 
			 DTI 5 289,000 6 313,900 6 313,900 6 321,700 
			 FCO 5 256,500 5 263,800 6 315,800 5 258,000 
			 Department of Health 5 307,200 6 316,600 7 369,500 6 325,500 
			 HM Treasury 5 263,900 5 271,200 5 271,500 5 285,800 
			 Home Office 5 243,000 4 208,800 6 332,400 7 399,900 
			 Lord Chancellor's Department 5 165,800 3 170,400 4 223,600 4 233,200 
			 MAFF(3) 5 210,700 4 218,200 — — — — 
			 MOD(4) 5 53,000 1 54,500 1 54,500 1 63,000 
			 Northern Ireland Office 5 239,800 3 247,300 3 247,300 5 257,500 
			 Privy Council Office 5 170,900 2 113,800 2 113,800 2 120,800 
			 Scotland Office 5 96,500 2 100,800 2 98,400 2 100,400 
			 Wales Office 5 121,100 2 122,900 2 122,900 2 127^00 
			 DEFRA(3) — — — — 5 268,000 5 285,900 
			 DTLR/DfT(2,3) — — — — 7 373,500 3 173,700 
			 DWP(3) — — — — 6 315,900 6 328,600 
			 Total 99 4,497,700 84 4,664,200 87 4,861,300 85 4,695,300 
			 (1) Cabinet Office figures include cars for the Prime Minister's Office, the Leader of the House of Lords, the Chief Whips in both Chambers and the Minister without Portfolio. (2) Takes into account Machinery of Government changes. (3) DETR, DSS and MAFF were reorganised after the 2001 General Election. (4) The Government Car Service provides a car and driver for the Secretary of State for Defence only. MOD provides its other Ministers with transport. 
		
	
	Information for 2003-04 is as follows:
	
		
			   2003-04 
			  Department  Number of cars  Annual contracted value (£) 
			 Cabinet Office 9 552,200 
			 DCA 3 188,200 
			 DCMS 4 235,600 
			 DEFRA 5 281,400 
			 DfES 7 382,100 
			 DFID 3 147,300 
			 DfT 4 232,200 
			 DTI 5 275,500 
			 DWP 6 339,400 
			 FCO 4 214,500 
			 DH 6 422,300 
			 HMT 5 292,200 
			 Home Office 7 408,900 
			 Law Officers 2 106,400 
			 NIO 5 362,600 
			 ODPM 7 394,300 
			 Privy Council 1 56,000 
			 Scotland Office 1 49,200 
			 Wales Office 3 140,700 
			 Total 87 5,081,000 
			  Notes: 1. Cabinet Office figures prior to the Machinery of Government changes include cars for the Prime Minister's Office, the Leader of the House of Lords, the Chief Whips in both Chambers and the Minister without Portfolio. After the changes the figures exclude the Government Chief Whip for the House of Lords. 2. The Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) became the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) following Machinery of Government changes in June 2003. 3. The Government Car Service no longer provided services to the Ministry of Defence. 
		
	
	Information for 2004-05 is as follows:
	
		
			   2004-05 
			  Department  Number of cars  Annual contracted value (£) 
			 Cabinet Office(1) 8 487,400 
			 ODPM 6 366,800 
			 DCMS 4 255,000 
			 DfES 7 399,200 
			 DFID 2 119,800 
			 DTI 5 286,300 
			 FCO 4 231,700 
			 Department of Health 6 382,200 
			 HM Treasury 5 303,300 
			 Home Office 7 386,900 
			 DCA 4 248,300 
			 Law Officers 2 113,100 
			 MOD(2) 0 0 
			 Northern Ireland Office 5 373,700 
			 Privy Council Office 3 195,400 
			 Scotland Office(3,4) 1 56,700 
			 Wales Office(3) 1 66,400 
			 DEFRA 5 294,700 
			 DfT 4 239,200 
			 DWP 6 357,500 
			 Total 85 5,163,600 
			 (1) Cabinet Office figures include cars for the Prime Minister's Office, the Leader of the House of Lords, the Chief Whips in both Chambers and the Minister without Portfolio. (2) No Government Car Service (GCS) cars or drivers were provided to the Ministry of Defence during 2003-04 or 2004-05. (3) The right hon. Alistair Darling MP was both Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland. All his GCS costs were met by the Department for Transport. The right hon. Peter Hain MP was both Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Secretary of State for Wales. All his GCS costs were met by the Northern Ireland Office. (4) The GCS car and driver provided to the Scotland Office was shared by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, David Cairns MP, and the Advocate-General, Dr. Lynda Clark QC. 
		
	
	Information on costs for ministerial cars and drivers for 2005-06 and 2006-07 was published in a written ministerial statement on 26 July 2007,  Official Report, columns 109-11WS; for 2007-08 in a written ministerial statement on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 116-18WS; and for 2008-09 in a written ministerial statement on 16 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 79-80WS.
	Information for earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
	Additional information to answer parts  (b) to  (f) could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Driving: Licensing

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many people successfully applied for a provisional driving licence for motorcycles only in each year since 1997.

Paul Clark: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The information requested is not held. Provisional driving licences are not issued with motorcycle entitlement only. Since 1 February 2002, all provisional licences automatically include motorcycle entitlement. Prior to this date, drivers who wanted provisional motorcycle entitlement had to request that it was included on their licence, it was then limited to two years.

Driving: Training

Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has spent providing training courses on road safety offered to drivers who would otherwise be fined for speeding; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is not responsible for the funding of courses offered to drivers as an alternative to a fixed penalty for a speeding offence. Speed awareness courses are run by the police and designed to be self funding with the client fee covering the costs involved.

East Coast Railway Line

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 93W, on the East Coast Railway Line, what information his Department holds on the operating surplus made by Intercity services in each of the last 10 years during which British Rail operated those services; if he will commission research to establish the proportion of that surplus which was attributable to the Intercity services run on the East Coast Main Line; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: Further to my answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 94W, the Department for Transport does not hold this information.

East Coast Railway Line

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when his Department plans to begin the pre-qualification process for invitations to tender for the Inter-City East Coast franchise.

Chris Mole: In the event that a state company takes on responsibility for the inter city east coast services later this year, the Department for Transport will consult on a new franchise specification with a view to issuing an invitation to tender in the summer of 2010.

East Coast Railway Line: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether funds have been allocated from  (a) the current rail budget for Control Period 4 and (ii) other transport budgets in respect of the cost of (i) the public company set up to run services on the East Coast Main Line and (ii) re-letting the Inter City East Coast franchise.

Chris Mole: The Government will seek to recover the costs of setting up the public company to run services on the East Coast Main Line and the costs of re-letting the Inter City East Coast Franchise from the performance bond in the National Express East Coast franchise, and as such, no funds have currently been allocated from the Control Period 4 rail budget or other transport budgets.

Eurostar

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 June 2009, on Eurostar, by what means his Department intends to demonstrate value for money for the taxpayer by negotiating the incorporation of Eurostar UK into a single company in which the Government has a minority stake; what expressions of interest in Eurostar UK have been received; what assessment he has made of the likely effects on the provision of new services to Amsterdam and Cologne of the establishment of a single Eurostar company; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: Deutsche Bahn indicated to the Government their general interest in Eurostar UK Ltd. (EUKL), but this did not result in a formal offer for the company.
	The assessment of value has been based on a comparison between endeavouring to sell EUKL as an undertaking separate to its current successful partnership, and the benefits of an incorporation deal.
	The Government believe that a sale of EUKL as a separate entity would be of uncertain value and considerable risk. In contrast incorporation offers an opportunity to shape the provision of Eurostar's cross-Channel rail services to the benefit of passengers, while creating a tradable shareholding in a future business that is more stable and certain than EUKL on its own.
	Separately the Government remain keen to encourage competition on cross-Channel rail passenger routes to the benefit of the High Speed 1 business. We aim to sell a concession for High Speed 1 as soon as market conditions allow and the concessionaire will be incentivised to promote competition on the line—to Paris, Brussels and beyond. The newly incorporated Eurostar will be in a position to compete with any future competitors on a fair and equal basis.

Fisheries: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps have been taken since 2000 to reduce the numbers of  (a) fishermen and  (b) other persons killed at sea.

Paul Clark: Since 2000 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Department for Transport and the Seafish Industry Authority, working in partnership, have:
	Introduced Codes of Safety for Fishing Vessels of 15m to 24m in length, and under 15m in length;
	Published 25 Merchant Shipping Notices (MSN) and Marine Guidance Notes (MGN) exclusively for the fishing industry, and 92 MSNs and MGNs intended for both merchant and fishing fleets;
	Introduced a system of Risk Assessment for fishing vessels, so that skippers and fishermen can review their own operations and develop effective solutions to the risks faced;
	Introduced Small Fishing Vessel Safety Guidance booklet to assist in their Risk Assessment process;
	Ensuring a robust regime for all Fishing Vessels undergoing their renewal surveys and mid-term safety inspections by MCA surveyors;
	Introduced a Prepare yourself for Survey booklet to assist fishermen in preparing their vessel for survey and for ongoing assessment of its condition by them;
	Introduced programme of inspection of small Fishing Vessels by local Coastguard Officers, who are able to deploy their local knowledge and the high regard in which the CG is held, to improve relations with local fishermen;
	Further developed this programme of inspection with the use of surveyors on larger under 15m vessels and introduced, initially as a trial and now expected to be formalised dedicated inspection teams whereby trained inspectors can use higher technical skills and local knowledge to enhance safety of vessels and safety culture of fishermen;
	Opened new Fishing Vessel Survey Offices in Brixham and Newlyn so that surveyors can be close at hand to large concentrations of Fishing Vessels;
	Employed a skipper to conduct on board visits to vessels in Scotland to discuss safety with the crews;
	Seafish has developed new standards for the hull construction and equipment of new Fishing Vessels under 24m;
	New vessels are unable to Register as Fishing Vessels unless they are being built, surveyed and certificated to the Seafish Construction Standards. Vessels built prior to 2001 must also be surveyed by Seafish against the standards who then provide a report to MCA who then decide on the basis of this report whether the vessel can be registered;
	Enhanced the mandatory training requirements basic safety training in Sea Survival, Fire Fighting, First Aid, Health and Safety for all fishermen, focussed in particular to ensure that young entrants to the industry receive sufficient basic safety training and experienced fishermen receive Safety Awareness training;
	Developed new courses for skippers of smaller vessels in Navigation and Engine Room Watchkeeping and Stability Awareness, which lead to a Skippers Certificate;
	Obtained grants from the EU Financial Instrument for Fisheries to allow the free provision of basic safety training in Sea Survival, Fire Fighting, First Aid, Health and Safety and Safety Awareness from 2001 to 2007;
	Is providing funds from Seafish and DFT to provide free training in the Navigation and Engine Room Watchkeeping and Stability Awareness (between July 2008 and March 2009 the funding provided was £536,271); and
	Conducted numerous safety campaigns with fishermen.
	Further details of safety initiatives affecting other seafarers can be found in Annual Report and Accounts of the MCA submitted to Parliament each year and placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Glasgow

John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.

Sadiq Khan: At present, I have no plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment, however my plans for visits have not been finalised yet.

Great North Eastern Railway: Connex

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many members of staff within  (a) his Department and  (b) the Strategic Rail Authority were assigned to duties related to ensuring the continuity of rail services following the surrender of franchises by (i) GNER and (ii) Connex.

Chris Mole: Although the GNER franchise was not surrendered, but converted into a management contract, there were three people employed by the Department for Transport who led on this process. However, others in the Department, including specialists in the finance and legal teams would have contributed to the work.
	The Department does not hold information in relation to the number of staff within the Strategic Rail Authority who worked on ensuring the continuity of rail services when the Connex franchise was surrendered. The Strategic Rail Authority would have been solely responsible for this.

Highways Agency

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 73 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, what estimate he has made of the savings to be made from new efficiencies in the Highways Agency in 2010-11.

Chris Mole: The Highways Agency's 2007 comprehensive spending review settlement covering the financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11 includes a target to deliver value for money gains of £144 million by the end of that period. As announced in the November 2008 pre-Budget report, the Highways Agency is also committed to working to identify a further £150 million efficiency savings by 31 March 2011.

Lighting: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department has made available to local authorities through private finance initiative credits for signed street lighting contracts in each year since 2000.

Sadiq Khan: The following table shows the amount of PFI credits allocated to local authority street lighting PFI projects in the financial year that each contract was signed:
	
		
			  Financial year  PFI credits allocated (million) 
			 2001-02 18.6 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 166.8 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 101.8 
			 2006-07 149.9 
			 2007-08 94.9 
			 2008-09 0 
		
	
	A Highway Maintenance PFI contract signed in Portsmouth in 2003 and worth £121 million PFI credits also includes the local authority's entire street lighting stock. This is not included in the above table.

M25

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much of the budget allocated to the M25 private finance initiative project has not been spent to date.

Chris Mole: The M25 Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract awarded by the Highways Agency in May 2009 is worth a total of £6.2 billion. These costs will be incurred over the 30-year lifetime of the project.
	During contract negotiations, the Government expressed a willingness to co-fund if necessary a proportion of the capital spending by the project consortium. In the event, no co-funding was necessary as all of the required funds were raised by the private sector.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 85 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, what incentives his Department plans to put in place to increase take-up of low-carbon vehicles.

Sadiq Khan: On 1 July, the Secretary of State for Transport announced a new £30 million Green Bus Fund from which bus companies and local authorities in England can compete over the next two years for funds to help them buy new low carbon buses.
	In addition, changes to Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) have been announced whereby, from 1 April 2009, an additional 6p per kilometre will be payable for all eligible kilometres operated by low carbon emission buses in England.
	All of this is in addition to our plans for electric vehicles and vans.

Motorways: Exhaust Emissions

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the costs of  (a) congestion and (b) pollution resulting from traffic on English motorways; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Department for Transport uses valuations to assess changes: either to the costs of congestion over time, or for particular interventions. Valuations are therefore in terms of comparisons with a base year or with regard to a scenario without a scheme or proposal.
	The Eddington Study, published in 2006, made use of analysis from the Department's National Transport Model. This looked at the costs of additional road congestion as it is predicted to increase over time, rather than the absolute costs of congestion. It estimated that the increase in time lost in England due to road congestion between 2003 and 2025 for all travellers including business and freight would be worth £23 to £24 billion by 2025 in 2002 prices.
	Because the impacts of pollution are often locally specific, an assessment of pollution resulting from the whole motorway network would be very complex and so is not undertaken. When individual proposals are assessed, detailed analysis is undertaken.
	With regard to CO2 produced in the motorway network, changes to CO2 emissions over time, and as a result of schemes are produced as set out in the Department's Road Transport Forecasts 2008, and the Active Traffic Management study. Some of this evidence will include valuations of the CO2 changes.

National Express: East Coast Railway Line

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of each report on the due diligence process carried out by his Department on the financial viability of the East Coast bid in the course of the franchising process.

Chris Mole: The National Express pre-qualification application was compliant in accordance with Treasury procurement guidelines. National Express Group committed, as part of their bid, a £40 million loan facility that was sufficient to maintain its contractual liquidity requirements, given its bid revenue projections, over the franchise term. Its bid was considered affordable.

National Express: East Coast Railway Line

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has engaged consultants to advise on the status of the cross-default clauses in the National Express East Coast franchise.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport is taking extensive legal advice on the status of the cross-default clauses in the National Express East Coast franchise.

Public Expenditure

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much he plans to allocate to each of the schemes referred to in Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, which are not directly related to transport.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has provided £350 million towards the £1.5 billion additional investment over the next two years to deliver 20,000 additional energy efficient, affordable homes to rent or buy. It is not contributing to any other schemes referred to in 'Building Britain's Future' that are not directly related to transport.

Railways

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on what percentage of rail routes slam-door carriages have been removed since 2000.

Chris Mole: The withdrawal from all routes of Mark 1 design slam door carriages, which were the subject of the 10 Year Plan for Transport, was completed in November 2005, apart from two units on the Lymington Branch which will be retired shortly.
	Other slam door designs, such as Mark 2s and 3s, remain in service but these were not the subject of the 10 Year Plan for Transport as they are fitted with Central Door Locking, which prevents the doors being opened while the train is in motion.

Railways: Electrification

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 June 2009,  Official Report, column 769W, on rail: electrification, when Transport for London indicated to his Department that there was little likelihood of it funding and bearing the risks of the electrification scheme.

Chris Mole: Transport for London (TfL) wrote to the Department for Transport on 18 March 2009 to indicate that it does not wish to provide the funding to meet the balance of the Gospel Oak to Barking electrification scheme costs over and above the offer by the Secretary of State for Transport to TfL of a contribution of a capital sum of up to £25 million.

Railways: Electrification

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 11 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of electrification per mile of railway line on the  (a) Midland Main Line and  (b) Great Western Line.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has been carrying out detailed work on electrification and expects to make an announcement, including details of costs shortly.

Railways: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport for which smaller rail schemes funding in Control Period 4 is available.

Chris Mole: The Government set out their strategy for Control Period four (CP4) in their White Paper, "Delivering a Sustainable Railway", which was published in July 2007. The rail schemes that are being delivered under that strategy are set out in the Office of Rail Regulation's determination of Network Rail's income for CP4. This is available on the Office of Rail Regulation's website at:
	www.rail-reg.gov.uk

Railways: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 52 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654 and the written ministerial statement,  Official Report, columns 21-22WS, on franchise rail services, how much has been allocated to programmes related to  (a) Reading Station,  (b) Thameslink,  (c) Birmingham New Street and  (d) Kings Cross rail schemes during Control Period 4.

Chris Mole: Work on enhancement projects during control period 4 is undertaken by Network Rail in accordance with the ORR Determination.
	In their Determination relating to Enhancements for control period 4, ORR specified the four projects for which information is requested without allocating specific values to each project. ORR stated in their Determination that:
	"Although we have estimated the costs of delivering individual projects when determining how much revenue Network Rail needs in total, Network Rail is free to budget for individual schemes as it sees fit."

Railways: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the evidence submitted by his Department to the Transport Select Committee's inquiry into Delivering a Sustainable railway: a 30-year strategy for the railways, HC 219 (2007-08), how much his Department plans to spend in Control Period 4  (a) on improvements to medium-sized stations,  (b) to facilitate strategic freight network infrastructure,  (c) on the Network Rail Discretionary Fund and  (d) on the delivery of 1,300 extra carriages.

Chris Mole: These projects are to be financed and delivered by Network Rail and the Rolling Stock Leasing Companies. The Government have set out the funding of over £10 billion that it intends to make available for the Railway during Control period 4 in its White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway.

Railways: Rolling Stock

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what percentage of the rail network has had the train protection and warning system installed.

Chris Mole: 100 per cent. of the Train Protection and Warning System has been installed across the entire rail network as required by the Railway Safety Regulations 1999 and as set out by the Government's 10 Year Plan for Transport.
	This programme of work has resulted in a 85 per cent. fall in risk from Signals Passed at Danger.

Railways: South East

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 178W, on railways: South East, what his most recent estimate is of the additional costs likely to be incurred during the mobilisation phase of the project; how much his Department has allocated for expenditure on those additional costs; and when he expects to be able to make a final estimate of those additional costs.

Chris Mole: The total cost of the mobilisation phase of the South Central franchise project is not yet known, given that this phase only commenced on 8 June 2009 and runs until the franchise commences on 20 September 2009. The estimated external costs for this phase of the project are £180,000.

Roads: Accidents

David Crausby: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of road accidents involving  (a) cyclists,  (b) pedestrians and  (c) motorcyclists.

Paul Clark: Measures currently under way include providing better infrastructure, funding cycle and child pedestrian training, improved training and testing for motorists, including motorcyclists, and encouraging these groups to make themselves conspicuous and, in the case of cyclists, by wearing a safety helmet.
	Other initiatives such as anti drink-drive and speeding campaigns and the provision of 20 mph zones can also contribute to the safety of these groups.
	The effect of such measures are reflected in the 2008 Road Casualty Statistics, which recorded a fall in the numbers of deaths of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists by 11 per cent., 15 per cent. and 16 per cent. respectively.
	Earlier this year we consulted on proposals for a new road safety strategy for the period beyond 2010. The consultation closed this month and we will be issuing a new strategy later this year.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has spent on emergency repairs to the strategic road network in each year since 2000.

Chris Mole: The Highways Agency does not separately record or report the cost of emergency repairs to the strategic road network. However, the annual accounts for the HA has reported the following in terms of expenditure on maintenance.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2008-09 914 
			 2007-08 879 
			 2006-07 850 
			 2005-06 852 
			 2004-05 732 
			 2003-04 726 
			 2002-03 760 
			 2001-02 711 
			 2000-01 736 
		
	
	The expenditure figures are for maintenance on the strategic road network managed and maintained by the Highways Agency. This includes renewal of the road surface and repairs to structures, as well as routine maintenance such as gully clearing, white lining, cleaning and winter maintenance. Costs excluded are those associated with our PFI contracts and our traffic and incident management service.
	Expenditure figures have been adjusted to account for spend relating to roads trunked or detrunked in the financial year.

Roads: Safety

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department considers signalled junctions with pedestrian facilities that do not meet the 2005 Department for Transport safety guidelines to be unsafe.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport (DfT) issues good practice guidance to local highway authorities on pedestrian facilities at signal-controlled junctions, which is contained in Traffic Advisory Leaflet 5/05. The document is on the internet at the following address:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/tal/signsandsignals/pedestrianfacilities/
	and has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The relevant highway authority is responsible for the design, implementation and any subsequent monitoring of new crossings—including the consideration of safety issues. It is for them to decide if it is appropriate to follow DfT guidelines, depending on the circumstances of each case.

Slough-Windsor Railway Line

Susan Kramer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what discussions he has had on the upgrade and expansion of the Windsor and Eton Riverside commuter rail line to take 10-carriage trains.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport is working with the train operator and Network Rail to extend platforms on the south-western network to increase capacity on suburban routes, including the Windsor and Eton Riverside line, to enable the operation of 10 carriage trains.

South Central Franchise

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009,  Official Report, column 298W, on Southern: standards, 
	(1)  and the Written Ministerial Statement of 9 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 32-34WS, on the South Central franchise, what  (a) enhancements and  (b) expenditure the Government has agreed to fund as part of the South Central franchise award;
	(2)  whether the Government expects Southern Railways to deliver any specific  (a) enhancements and  (b) investments during its operation of the South Central franchise.

Chris Mole: Under the south central franchise agreement a number of investments and enhancements will be delivered by the franchisee over the next five years and 10 months. The minimum enhancements required by Government were set out in the invitation to tender dated 3 November 2008. In many areas GoVia have committed to exceed the minimum specified enhancements. In other areas they have committed to additional outputs that were not specified.
	The Department for Transport has agreed to purchase an option offered by the franchisee to refurbish an additional 27 stations. This is in addition to funding the installation of ticket gates at 14 south London stations announced earlier this year.
	Enhancements and investments included in the franchise agreement include:
	14 per cent. additional a.m. peak vehicles arrivals into London terminal stations;
	24 per cent. additional a.m. peak vehicles arrivals into Brighton;
	New late evening and weekend services on routes in south London and on the south coast, and some services on Boxing Day;
	Improved station staffing in the London area;
	120 additional ticket vending machines;
	Smartcards across the franchise from 2012;
	1,122 additional car park spaces;
	1,500 additional secure cycle parking spaces;
	Additional gating schemes at 22 stations (in additional to the 14 already being sponsored by the DfT);
	Station deep clean at all south central managed stations;
	34 stations to benefit from refurbishment;
	CCTV on all trains and all stations;
	Rolling stock refurbishment;
	30 stations to have station travel plans with a £1.25 million implementation budget;
	Information provision improvements on trains and at stations including help points at 40 additional stations.

South Central Franchise

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009,  Official Report, column 298W, on Southern: standards, what targets Southern Railways has set for  (a) trains,  (b) stations and  (c) customer service in the (i) South London, (ii) Sussex and Coast and (iii) Gatwick Express service group of its franchise.

Chris Mole: GoVia, as part of the south central franchise agreement, has committed to achieve the following customer satisfaction scores for 2010 and 2014 as measured by the National Passenger Survey:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  NPS targets  Stations  Trains  Customer service 
			  2010
			 Sussex and Coast 73 75 76 
			 South London 67 62 66 
			 Gatwick Express(1) n/a 86 81 
			 
			  2014
			 Sussex and Coast 81 80 81 
			 South London 76 65 73 
			 Gatwick Express(1) n/a 88 85 
			 (1 )Gatwick Express refers to Gatwick to London Victoria non-stop services only. 
		
	
	Targets within the franchise agreement are set on a year by year basis and are measured as the average of the two NPS surveys per year. No targets are set for Gatwick Express stations as Network Rail manages both stations at which Gatwick Express calls.

Strategic Investment Fund

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 49 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, how much his Department has contributed to the Strategic Investment Fund.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has not made any contribution to the Strategic Investment Fund.

Suburban Development Research

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 19 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1424W, on suburban development research, whether the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's SOLUTIONS project has  (a) reached its conclusions and  (b) published its recommendations; and how much the programme has received from the public purse.

Sadiq Khan: The Sustainability of Land Use and Transport in Outer Neighbourhoods (SOLUTIONS) project has finished case studies of London and the Wider South East Regions and of the Tyne and Wear City Region and is awaiting feedback from our non-academic partners before reaching final conclusions.
	The project has not yet published its final recommendations but has posted draft reports about the project and case studies on the website www.regionalvisions.ac.uk. The final version of the reports will be published on the website and we will provide a copy for the Libraries of the House.
	The programme of research over a period of five years has received £1.75 million from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and funding from the Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government. The expected contribution is expected be approximately £120,000 between the two Departments.

Transport Innovation Fund

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 1445-46W, on the Transport Innovation Fund, and with reference to his Department's publication, Supporting the development of TIF packages, published on 4 March 2009, how much funding his Department intends to allocate to the Transport Innovation Fund in each year to 2018-19.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The following table shows the total value in each year of allocations of support to individual projects that have already been made from the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF). Decisions on the total of TIF funding will be taken as any further projects come up for approval, and for the years from 2011-12 decisions will be made when the Department for Transport's overall budget is allocated as part of Government-wide processes:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2007-08 120 
			 2008-09 106 
			 2009-10 356 
			 2010-11 291 
			 2011-12 622 
			 2012-13 1,250 
			 2013-14 1,313 
			 2014-15 1,142 
			 2015-16 800 
			 2016-17 0 
			 2017-18 0 
			 2018-19 0

Transport Innovation Fund

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 103W, on the Transport Innovation Fund, how much funding has been allocated to each of the projects named in the Answer; and over what timescale in each case.

Sadiq Khan: The following table sets out the total funding allocated by year from the Transport Innovation Fund to each of the projects:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  2011-12  2012-13  2013-14  2014-15  2015-16  Total 
			  Rail freight schemes   
			 Gospel Oak/Barking — 18.5 — — — — — — — 18.5 
			 Humber ports — 1.0 3.0 2.0 — — — — — 6.0 
			 Peterborough/Nuneaton — 20.0 30.0 30.0 — — — — — 80.0 
			 Southampton/Birmingham — 15.0 27.8 — — — — — — 42.8 
			 Olive Mount Chord — 0.8 0.9 — — — — — — 1.7 
			 Total rail freight schemes — 55.3 61.7 32.0 — — — — — 149.0 
			
			 Highways Agency traffic management schemes   
			 Birmingham Box (gross cost) — 40.7 76.3 31.6 — — — — — 148. 6 
			 A14 (gross cost) — 10.0 66.8 11.9 — — — — — 88.7 
			 HA contribution to schemes — — -20.6 -4.9 — — — — — -25.5 
			
			 Net TIF cost of HA schemes — 50.7 122.5 38.6 — — — — — 211. 8 
			 Crossrail (DFT grant) 120.0 — 172.0 220.0 622.0 1,250.0 1,313.0 1,142.0 800.0 5,639.0

Transport: Public Expenditure

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the Statement made by the Secretary of State on 15 January 2009,  Official Report, column 335, on transport infrastructure, what his most recent estimate is of levels of spending on transport in the current three year period.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport's Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2008-09 (HC 454) sets out, in Appendix A, the outturn for spending in 2008-09 and existing plans within departmental expenditure limits (DEL) and annually managed expenditure (AME) for 2009-10 and 2010-11. The following table repeats the total figures shown in that Appendix:
	
		
			  £0,000 
			   2008-09 Outturn  2009-10 Plans  2010-11 Plans 
			  Resource
			 DEL 5,518 6,398 6,371 
			 AME 3,729 4,265 4,493 
			 Total resource budgets 9,247 10,663 10,864 
			 
			  Capital
			 DEL 7,183 8,314 7,412 
			 AME 0 0 0 
			 Total capital budgets 7,183 8,314 7,412 
		
	
	Planned expenditure in-year for 2009-10 and 2010-11 may vary depending, in particular, on decisions made on the take-up of end year flexibility from previous years.

Transport: Wakefield

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much local transport grant his Department has allocated to Wakefield Metropolitan and District Council in each year since its creation.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport has allocated the following capital funding to Wakefield metropolitan district council (MDC) under the local transport plan system. This funding is not ring-fenced and Wakefield MDC has discretion to spend the allocations in line with its priorities. Funding for Integrated Transport reflects agreement within West Yorkshire on appropriate allocations between the district councils and the Integrated Transport Authority:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Integrated transport block  Highways maintenance  Total local transport funding 
			 2009-10 3.695 3.011 6.706 
			 2008-09 3.564 3.004 6.568 
			 2007-08 3.300 2.924 6.224 
			 2006-07 3.279 3.399 6.678 
			 2005-06 3.087 3.252 6.339 
			 2004-05 2.801 3.639 6.440 
			 2003-04 2.806 4.190 6.996 
			 2002-03 2.886 3.762 6.648 
			 2001-02 3.679 3.568 7.648 
			 2000-01 — 4.608 4.608 
			 
			  Pre LTP funding
			 1999-2000 2.882 — 2.882 
			 1998-99 2.490 — 2.490 
			  Note: Information on funding for Wakefield from before 1998-99 is not available. 
		
	
	In addition to the above allocations £30.066 million has been provided to Wakefield MDC in the past three years for major projects:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Project  Funding 
			 2009-10 Hemsworth to A1 Link Road 6.381 
			
			 2008-09 Hemsworth to A1 Link Road 14.654 
			  Glasshoughton Coalfields Link Road 2.977 
			
			 2007-08 Hemsworth to A1 Link Road 2.519 
			  Glasshoughton Coalfields Link Road 3.535 
		
	
	Wakefield MDC receives a general revenue allocation on transport through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant.

Travel

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport 
	(1)  what recent estimate his Department has made of the comparative journey times from city centre to city centre between  (a) London and Paris,  (b) London and Brussels,  (c) London and Amsterdam and  (d) London and Cologne when travelling by (i) air and (ii) rail;
	(2)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the relationship between journey times and the proportion of journeys made by rail for  (a) inter-city journeys within England,  (b) inter-city journeys between England and Scotland,  (c) inter-city journeys between London and continental Europe and  (d) inter-city journeys between UK cities other than London and continental Europe.

Paul Clark: Journey time is only one of the factors that people consider when they are making a choice about how to travel. Other factors include reliability, frequency and price. The Department for Transport has not carried out a detailed assessment of comparative journey times by rail and air, however the evidence does point to passengers making rail their first choice when it can provide a fast and convenient service.
	For example passengers on short-haul trips to European destinations are already increasingly turning to rail where that is an attractive option. Flights to Paris have fallen by over 20 per cent. since 2000, and flights to Brussels by over one third. Increasing the speed of trains within the UK can also have benefits. The journey time between Manchester and London has decreased from nearly three hours in 2007 to around two hours now. The number of rail passengers between Manchester and London increased by 64 per cent. between 2003 and 2008 from 2.1 million to 3.3 million per annum and over the same time period the number of air passengers has decreased from 1.9 million to 1.4 million, a 30 per cent. decrease.
	On 15 January 2009 the Government announced that it was setting up a company, High Speed 2, to consider the case for new high speed rail services from London to Scotland.

UK Innovation Fund

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to page 51 of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, how much his Department plans to contribute to the UK Innovation Fund in each of the next 10 years.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has no plans, at this time, to contribute to the UK Innovation Fund.

Waterloo Station

Susan Kramer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects platforms 21 to 24 at Waterloo station to receive domestic rail services; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: Capacity at Waterloo will be increased by lengthening platforms thereby allowing longer trains, carrying more people.
	We are working with Network Rail to extend platforms at Waterloo station and across the whole south western network to increase capacity on some suburban routes from eight to ten carriage trains by 2014.
	As part of this, we are investigating how Waterloo and Waterloo International Terminal platforms 20 to 24 can be used to help increase capacity on the network. Work has been carried out on platform 20 and option development work is now progressing on other platforms and enhancing the tracks outside the station to support the increase in capacity. We are continuing to work with South West Trains to provide the additional carriages for longer trains.

Afghanistan: Overseas Aid

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure that fertiliser supplied to Afghanistan from his Department's budget is not misappropriated by the Taliban for use in weapon production.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID), the stabilisation Aid Fund and USAID jointly funded the governor of Helmand's wheat seed distribution programme ($11 in 2008-09). The fertiliser was distributed through a USAID contractor who tracked recipients through a post-distribution monitoring structure. Military and civilian planners in Helmand assessed that the risk of the distributed fertiliser being used in bomb making was low.
	This year's counter narcotic plan will distribute low nitrogen content fertilisers, so it will be difficult to use in weapons construction. The distribution and use of fertiliser will be monitored.

Afghanistan: Overseas Aid

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on aid to Afghanistan in 2008-09; and what proportion of such aid was delivered directly in Helmand province.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided £143 million of support to Afghanistan in 2008-09 through its bilateral programme. Of this, we spent £21.9 million on growth, livelihoods and governance programmes directly in Helmand province.
	DFID publishes expenditure in its Annual Report and the Statistics in International Development publication. These are available in the Library of the House and on the DFID website:
	www.dfid.gov.uk

Africa: Overseas Aid

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has allocated to the agricultural sector in each of the bilateral country programmes in sub-Saharan Africa in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: The total amounts that Department for International Development (DFID) has spent on projects and programmes in the agriculture sector through its bilateral programme in sub-Saharan Africa in the last five years are set out in table 1. Table 2 sets out the amounts that DFID has spent on food aid and food security programmes in sub-Saharan Africa over the same period. In addition to this, DFID also provides funds to national governments through general budget support. Last year (2008-09) we estimate that £15.6 million of DFID's bilateral budget support was spent on the agriculture sector in Africa.
	DFID's White Paper, published on 6 July, sets out our vision for a doubling of agricultural production in Africa over the next 20 years.
	
		
			  Table 1: DFID bilateral spending on agriculture programmes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) 
			  £000 
			  Recipient country  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Botswana 122 0 35 0 0 
			 Burkina Faso 20 0 0 0 0 
			 DRC 0 0 0 0 698 
			 Ethiopia 1,531 544 23 15,490 4,204 
			 Gambia 0 18 0 0 0 
			 Ghana 3,199 4,632 1,045 3,008 2,723 
			 Kenya 1,510 1,049 1,421 472 110 
			 Lesotho 283 364 306 150 155 
			 Liberia 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Madagascar 33 22 18 16 0 
			 Malawi 3,292 644 2,517 2,529 2,547 
			 Mozambique 207 270 491 331 427 
			 Namibia 470 596 289 0 0 
			 Nigeria 2,125 3,021 2,609 1,835 1,039 
			 Rwanda 396 282 1,995 1,394 1,090 
			 SADC 0 50 100 0 0 
			 Sierra Leone 0 0 17 16 79 
			 Somalia 0 0 500 0 735 
			 South Africa 705 599 463 292 259 
			 SSA regional 107 192 110 279 104 
			 Sudan 0 0 0 0 3,213 
			 Swaziland 126 0 89 1 0 
			 Tanzania 74 4 80 164 224 
			 Uganda 1,358 244 64 90 304 
			 Zambia 142 43 55 59 35 
			 Zimbabwe 3 0 0 25 2,747 
			 Sub-total 15,703 12,574 12,227 26,151 20,693 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: DFID bilateral spending on food aid and food security programmes in SSA 
			  £000 
			  Recipient country  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Burundi 0 0 2,640 0 0 
			 Chad 0 0 524 0 0 
			 Eritrea 0 4  243 0 
			 Ethiopia 59 386 464 182 20,744 
			 Guinea 0 0 0 155 40 
			 Kenya 5 0 0 215 165 
			 Lesotho 330 584 607 471 644 
			 Liberia 0 163 124 0 0 
			 Malawi 4,014 710 867 177 0 
			 Niger 0 0 0 183 39 
			 South Africa 0 526 1,138 1,326 0 
			 SSA regional 300 16 0 0 0 
			 Sudan 1,670 740 936 747 0 
			 Swaziland 0 0 0 1,722 798 
			 Uganda 0 0 2,000 9,500 8,000 
			 Zambia 209 4,370 569 447 831 
			 Sub-total 6,587 7,499 6,705 15,368 31,261

Africa: Poverty

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with his G8 counterparts on progress towards meeting the target of doubling funding for the alleviating of poverty in Africa between 2005 and 2010; and on what dates these discussions were held.

Gareth Thomas: The Secretary of State discussed this issue when he met counterparts from Germany, France and the United States at the Wold Bank annual meetings, held in Washington in April on 25-26 April. Further to this, I attended the G8 Development Ministers meeting in Rome on 11-12 June, where these issues were also discussed. Ministers and officials have regular conversations on this subject with counterparts.
	The G8, at its summit in Italy, agreed a renewed commitment to development and to meeting its aid commitments including those for Africa. A mechanism for achieving greater accountability and transparency of G8 promises including an interim accountability framework was also agreed. In addition, the Prime Minister secured agreement for an international assessment of what is needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals, to take place in 2010.

Damian McBride

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what date he last met Mr Damian McBride in the course of his official duties.

Douglas Alexander: I have not met with Mr. McBride in the course of my ministerial duties since his resignation on 11 April 2009.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of employees in his Department  (a) are on a flexible working contract,  (b) are on a job share employment contract and  (c) work from home for more than four hours a week.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to improving the work/life balance of its staff, and provides a wide range of flexible work pattern options.
	On joining DFID, and at any subsequent time, all staff have the option to request to join our Flexible Working Hours Scheme (FWHS). Agreement to this is made by line managers, taking into account the operating needs of their unit. Options include home and remote working; term-time working; reduced hours; compressed hours, and flexible start and finish times.
	We do not retain a central register of staff who have asked to join our FWHS, nor of all those who are working under those arrangements, but as at 30 June 2009, 145 (i.e. 8.6 per cent.) of our Home Civil Service (HCS) staff were working reduced hours.
	DFID does not hold central records of those on job share employment contracts. Similarly, there are no central records of employees who work from home for more than four hours per week. To provide this would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Marketing

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what he estimates the cost to his Department of the rebranding of his Department's overseas aid will be; from which line in his Department's budget the cost will be paid; what the cost was of designing the new UKaid logo; which company designed it; if he will place in the Library a copy of the design contract; and what names other than UKaid were considered for the rebranding;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of each logo which was considered during the redesign process for rebranding his Department's overseas aid; on which  (a) items,  (b) buildings,  (c) vehicles and  (d) other places the new logo will be placed; what he estimates the cost of printing (i) stationery, (ii) business cards and (iii) other items with the new logo will be; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: 'UKaid' was developed through a process of research and testing with the UK public. From this research a range of designs were tested, of which 'UKaid' was the preferred option. It would be inappropriate to make public copies of unsuccessful designs.
	We anticipate spending approximately £130,000 on re-branding our overseas aid, which will come from DFID's central communications budget. Of this, just over £98,000 was spent on developing, designing and testing the logo to ensure that it was meaningful to the UK public. It was commissioned via the Government's Central Office of Information (COI), following best practice and ensuring optimal value for money. As COI are the Government's procurement specialists no design contract was required.
	In order to minimise the additional costs, and to ensure that the logo is introduced sensitively and appropriately, 'UKaid' will be phased in both in the UK and in the countries where we work. Within the UK the 'UKaid' logo will be used on a range of public communications, as well as DFID's website. Electronic templates will be updated at no extra cost; the logo will be incorporated into products as they are due to be replaced or replenished.

Departmental Postal Services

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on Royal Mail services in each of the last two years.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development spent the following sums using the Royal Mail in the last two years:
	2007-08: £31,084
	2008-09: £28,000

Developing Countries: Health Services

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received on the introduction of a currency transaction levy to raise funds for health initiatives in the least developed countries.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has received representations about the currency transaction levy (CTL) in relation to the work of the High Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems (Taskforce) from NGOs in various meetings at official level. The Taskforce Secretariat, of which the United Kingdom is a member, has received 33 campaign e-mails about CTL to date. It has also received two written submissions about CTL in response to its public consultation exercise. In addition, the Prime Minister has received three letters about the CTL.
	The Prime Minister co-chairs the taskforce together with World Bank President Robert Zoellick. The taskforce aims to mobilise additional resources for health systems strengthening in the poorest countries in the world through the use of innovative financing mechanisms. The Taskforce report is available at:
	http://www.internationalhealthpartnership.net/en/taskforce.

Glasgow

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.

Douglas Alexander: I will next be visiting the Department's joint headquarters in Glasgow on Friday.

Iran: Afghanistan

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with his Iranian counterpart on support for Afghan refugees in Iran.

Michael Foster: The Secretary of State for International Development has not had any recent discussions with the Iranian Government about support for Afghan refugees in Iran.
	The Department for International Development has contributed £19 million to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva to address refugee issues worldwide including in Afghanistan and Iran.

Overseas Aid

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has allocated to  (a) agriculture and  (b) food security in each of the last three years in (i) bilateral expenditure, (ii) multilateral contributions and (iii) research; and how much it intends to allocate to each such category in each of the next three years.

Michael Foster: The following table sets out the Department for International Development's (DFID) spending on agriculture and food security for the years 2005-06 to 2007-08. Comparable figures are not yet available for 2008-09.
	The Prime Minister announced the Government's commitment to spend £1.1 billion on agriculture and food security over the period 2009-10 to 2011-12. Programming of this expenditure is not yet finalised.
	
		
			  DFID agriculture and food security spending 
			   £ million 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  Bilateral
			 Agriculture 83 95 77 
			 Fisheries 4 6 2 
			 Rural development 26 25 49 
			 Sub total 114 126 128 
			 
			 Food security 18 19 36 
			 
			 Total agriculture and food security 132 145 164 
			 of which RNR Research 33 26 27 
			 
			  Multilateral
			 Agriculture 32 108 95 
			 Fisheries 6 2 6 
			 Rural development 20 29 19 
			 of which RNR Research 6 3 6 
			 Sub total 58 138 120 
			 
			 Food security 31 27 19 
			 
			 Total agriculture and food security 89 165 139 
			 Total 221 310 303 
			 of which RNR Research 38 30 32 
			  Notes: 1. Excludes emergency humanitarian food aid and basic nutrition 2. Multilateral sectoral share—latest data available 2007-08 3. Agriculture includes livestock 4. RNR research includes agriculture, fisheries and forestry

Palestinians: International Assistance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department is giving to enable aid to reach Gaza.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided £1 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to co-ordinate the relief items brought into Gaza by the UN and non-governmental organisations, to ensure that aid reaches those in most need. WFP's work includes the provision of transport, logistics and co-ordination of advocacy for improved access. This is part of DFID's almost £50 million overall response to the recent fighting in Gaza.
	The UK Government continue to press the Israeli Government to allow full, consistent and unhindered access to Gaza for aid and aid workers, as well as to relax restrictions on the types of goods that are allowed to cross the border.

Senegal: Overseas Aid

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what  (a) direct and  (b) indirect aid his Department provided to Senegal in 2008.

Gareth Thomas: Details of the Department for International Development's (DFID) bilateral expenditure were published in DFID's Annual Report 2009 which is available from the Commons Library or online at:
	www.dfid.gov.uk
	In financial year 2008-09 the only DFID bilateral aid to Senegal was delivered by not for profit organisations through the Civil Society Challenge Fund and amounted to £163,000. Data on DFID's share of Multilateral aid to Senegal for 2008-09 are not yet available, but in 2007-08 it is estimated that £9.2 million of DFID's core contributions to multilateral organisations went to Senegal.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict in that country; and what steps his Department is taking to support internally-displaced Tamils.

Michael Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made on 14 July 2009,  Official Report , columns 12-13WS. This sets out our assessment of the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and our efforts to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to meet its pledge of returning internally-displaced persons to their homes as soon as possible.

British Council: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1413W, on terrorism: finance, what criteria the British Council is using to allocate funding to each  (a) country and  (b) project; and how it plans to assess the effectiveness of such expenditure.

Chris Bryant: The spending profile of the £6 million allocated to the British Council's Reconnect initiative to tackle radicalisation and promote understanding overseas will be £1 million, £2 million and £3 million from 2008-09 to 2010-11 respectively. There is no ring-fenced allocation for each country. Allocations depend on the quality of project proposals submitted for funding, measured by anticipated impact, and the priority accorded to that country. The British Council has a rolling professional evaluation process in place for all its programmes.

British Overseas Territories: Discrimination

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which UK overseas territories do not have constitutions which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of  (a) sexual orientation,  (b) ethnicity and  (c) gender.

Chris Bryant: holding reply of 20 July 2009
	 Three overseas territories have constitutions with Bills of Rights dating from before 1997, namely Bermuda, Montserrat and Anguilla. Six overseas territories have new constitutions agreed since 1997 (Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, British Virgin Islands and—not yet in force—Cayman Islands, and St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), each of which has a Bill of Rights.
	All of the Bills of Rights have an open-ended non-discrimination provision prohibiting discrimination on grounds of a status listed or other status. It is not therefore necessary to set out every status in the provision. Where existing constitutional provisions fall short of this, we ensure that negotiations on a new constitution result in a Bill of Rights which reflects at a minimum the European convention on human rights and the international covenant on civil and political rights.

Damian McBride

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date he last met Mr. Damian McBride in the course of his official duties.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has never had a meeting with Mr. Damien McBride in or outside his ministerial duties.

Departmental Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on advertising its Locate system for British nationals who plan to travel abroad in each year since its inception.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The promotion of Locate is a feature of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Know Before You Go public information campaign aimed at helping British travellers to stay safe and healthy abroad. It is impossible to calculate the exact spend on advertising Locate because the campaign combines a number of different travel safety messages, and local promotion initiatives have been funded from Posts' devolved budgets. However, we are able to specify that in 2008 the FCO paid £25,000 for Locate's media launch in the UK, and £24,300 for artwork and the development/printing of Locate leaflets and posters, mainly for use by our Posts abroad.

Departmental Procurement

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been engaging with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) on the Glover report and made the following progress in respect of the recommendations:
	We advertise our higher value UK requirements on the FCO website. The portal is being developed by OGC and consideration is being given to advertising on the Supply 2 Gov portal as an interim solution for our UK requirements.
	We have been running a pilot of an OGC approved e-tendering system and we expect to meet this recommendation by the deadline.
	We already do this for contracts advertised on the FCO website, but using the single portal will be considered in conjunction with the OGC development of the opportunities portal.
	We already seek detail of all previous relevant experience not just that limited to the public sector.
	We published our Innovation Procurement Strategy and Implementation Plan on the FCO website on 15 July 2009.
	We encourage greater use of outcome based specifications.
	We have altered our supplier adoption processes to clearly identify small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enable the collection of SME expenditure data.
	The OGC will be rolling out guidance to facilitate the implementation of the remaining Glover recommendations and the FCO will seek to adopt this guidance into its policy and processes in the required time scales.

Departmental Training

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on training for  (a) him and  (b) each other Minister in his Department in the last 12 months; and what the purpose of each training activity was.

Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Gillian Merron) of 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 505W.
	In addition to the training detailed in that reply, in the last 12 months £125 has been spent on IT training for my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN Lord Malloch-Brown.

Departmental Work Experience

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provision is made to enable students to undertake work experience in his Department; by what means members of the public may obtain information about work experience in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) centrally run work experience programmes are aimed at broadening the diversity of our work force.
	We currently offer up to 40 students a place every year on the Partner University Placement Scheme; a positive action work experience programme to promote social inclusion and ethnic diversity within the FCO.
	The FCO also participates in Cabinet Office diversity internships; taking up to 10 students and recent graduates from the Summer Development Programme (SDP) and the Summer Placement Scheme (SPS). The SDP is an internship for students from a black or minority ethnic background and the SPS is for students with a registered disability.
	We are also taking part in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Public Sector Graduate Internships, offering up to 30 places through financial year 2009-10.
	Members of the public can find details of our centrally run work experience schemes through the work experience pages of the FCO website at:
	www.fco.gov.uk/workexperience

Eritrea: International Assistance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek agreement at EU level to withhold EU aid payments to Eritrea if there is no agreed improvement in Eritrea's performance on human rights.

Ivan Lewis: We remain concerned about the reports of human rights abuses in Eritrea.
	The Eritrean Government has requested a discussion of human rights at the next EU Article 8 Political Dialogue meeting in September 2009.
	The European Commission is conducting a mid-term review of its European development fund 10 (EDF 10) in October 2009. This assesses the relevance and performance of the current allocation of €122 million against the guidelines set out in the Commission's Eritrea country strategy paper.
	We will consult closely with the European Commission in October if there is no improvement in Eritrea's performance on human rights.

Eritrea: Overseas Aid

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial support his Department has provided to Eritrea in the last 12 months.

Ivan Lewis: In the last 12 months, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided £107,000 to a female genital mutilation project to support the National Union of Eritrean Women and £95,000 supporting agricultural workers, via the National Federation of Eritrean Workers, to obtain fair pay and working conditions. Both projects are run through the Government of Eritrea but are closely monitored by our embassy in Asmara through, for example, visiting local health clinics where workshops are taking place.

Glasgow

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.

Iran: Diplomatic Service

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many locally employed British Embassy staff in Iran have immunity from jurisdiction under Article 38.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 20 July 2009
	 No locally employed members of staff at British Embassy in Tehran have immunity under Article 38 (1) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

Lithuania: Sexuality

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Lithuanian government on the effect of recent changes to Lithuanian law on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in that country.

Chris Bryant: The Government are disappointed that on 14 July 2009 the Lithuanian Parliament overruled the veto of their outgoing President, Valdas Adamkus, and passed the controversial law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information.
	The new law contains a clause which classifies "agitating in favour" of homosexual or bisexual relationships as potentially harmful to the development of minors. Our ambassador to Lithuania, together with EU partners, has expressed our concerns about this law, including in a meeting with President Adamkus on 22 June 2009. Lithuania's incoming President, Dalia Grybauskaite, is obliged to sign the bill into law.
	The Government welcome President Grybauskaite's statement that she disapproves of aspects of the law and will take all legal measures to seek its improvement. We will continue to work with EU partners to ensure that Lithuania satisfies its human rights obligations.

Palestinians: Israel

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take during the next 12 months at the United Nations in respect of recognition by the Palestinian Authority of the State of Israel as a Jewish state; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We welcome the fact that the Palestinian Authority recognises the state of Israel and is prepared to negotiate a peace deal with it.
	The nature of the state of Israel, and the role that religion plays, is a matter for Israelis, although we would expect Israel to respect the rights of minorities as undertaken in Israel's declaration of independence and basic laws. We welcome the fact that the Israeli Government has not said that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state should be a precondition for entering negotiations with the Palestinians.
	The UK position is clear that a comprehensive peace should be based on two states, living side by side within secure and agreed borders based on those of 1967, with Jerusalem as the capital for both states. Such a solution is the only way to do justice to the national aspirations of the Jewish people and of the Palestinians.
	The two-state solution was envisioned in UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1850 of 16 December 2008, which the UK supported, and reaffirmed by the UK-led UNSCR 1860 of 8 January 2009. The UK will continue to make this position clear in future UN discussions.

Spirit of Humanity

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to complete his investigation into The Spirit of Humanity interception; and by what means he plans to communicate his findings to hon. Members.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised this issue with the Israeli Foreign Minister on 1 July 2009. We have also raised this with officials from the Israeli embassy in London and await further clarification.

Sri Lanka

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made an assessment of humanitarian conditions in the Manik Farm camp in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: I have been asked to reply.
	There are an estimated 284,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Manik Farm Camp. The Department for International Development's (DFID) humanitarian experts latest assessment is that the conditions in the camp remain basic but continue to improve as the priority needs of shelter, food, medicine and immediate access to surgical treatment are gradually met. However, we are increasingly concerned about the lack of freedom of movement for the IDP population and the restrictions put on protection activities, such as ensuring the safety of the IDPs and reuniting children with their families.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made on 14 July,  Official Report; column 12-13WS. This sets out DFID's current position on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka: International Assistance

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the International Monetary Fund on the proposed emergency loan package to the Sri Lankan government; and if he will make a statement.  [Official Report, 9 September 2009, Vol. 496, c. 34-36MC.]

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and are also committed to helping Sri Lanka avoid an economic crisis that would impact most on Sri Lanka's poor.
	The Chancellor is in close contact with the IMF and with ministerial colleagues, especially the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development.
	The International Monetary Fund has not yet presented a programme for Sri Lanka. Once a programme is presented, it will be assessed on its merits and the situation on the ground in Sri Lanka at the time.

Asbestos

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the health risks to  (a) a child aged five years and  (b) an adult aged 30 years from an exposure to 48 fibres of (i) crocidolite and (ii) amosite per millilitre of air in a 12 week period;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the risk of  (a) a child aged five years and  (b) and adult aged 30 years developing mesothelioma as a consequence of exposure to asbestos;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the health risks to  (a) a child aged five years and (b) an adult aged 30 years from an exposure to 72 fibres of chrysotile per millilitre of air in a 12 week period.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information requested could be produced only at disproportionate cost as it is currently not available or cannot be produced on a sound scientific basis in respect of a five-year old.
	The exposures in the question appear to relate to the "action levels" in the 2002 Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations which are no longer current. The current limit in the 2006 regulations is lower at 0.1 fibres per millilitre of air averaged over a four hour period. Irrespective of this limit the regulations require exposures to be reduced to the lowest reasonably practicable level below 0.1 fibres per millilitre.
	Risk assessment models are available for mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer. These can be used to assess risk for given levels of exposure, exposure durations, types of asbestos, and the age at which exposure occurs—but only within the working age range.

Attendance Allowance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed attendance allowance in  (a) Vale of York constituency and  (b) England in (i) 1980, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2005 and (v) 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: The available information is in the following table:
	
		
			  Attendance allowance—cases in payment 
			  Date  Vale of York parliamentary constituency  England 
			 November 1980 — — 
			 November 1997 1,300 1,006,300 
			 November 2001 1,500 1,072,600 
			 November 2005 1,960 1,213,340 
			 November 2008 2,370 1,321,380 
			  Notes: 1. The information is not available for 1980. 2. Figures taken from the 100 per cent data. (November 2005 and November 2008) are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Figures for November 1997 and November 2001 are based on 5 per cent. sample caseload data, adjusted to 100 per cent. caseload data and rounded to the nearest 100, and are subject to sampling error. 4. Figures show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and 5 per cent. sample

Attendance Allowance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the monetary value of attendance allowance paid to residents from  (a) the Vale of York and  (b) England was in (i) 1980, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2005 and (v) 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Expenditure on attendance allowance in (a) the Vale of York and (b) England 
			  Cash prices (£ million) 
			  Financial year  Vale of York  England 
			 1980 — — 
			 1997 3.0 2,073 
			 2001 3.8 2,566 
			 2005 5.3 3,200 
			 2008 7.1 3,929 
			  Notes: 1. Estimates are not available for 1980. 2. Estimates for 1997 and 2001 are based on 5 per cent. sample caseload data, adjusted to 100 per cent. caseload data and to published benefit expenditure. 3. Estimates for 2005 and 2008 are based on the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. 4. Estimates for 2008 are based on averaging August and November 2008. 5. Estimates are adjusted to published benefit expenditure.  Source: DWP statistical and accounting data

Carer's Allowance

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have claimed carer's allowance in  (a) St Ives constituency,  (b) Cornwall and  (c) England in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of people who became entitled to Carer's Allowance 
			   St. Ives parliamentary constituency  Cornwall  England 
			 2004 360 1,790 141,780 
			 2005 390 1,910 146,470 
			 2006 320 1,740 147,120 
			 2007 370 1,670 125,590 
			 2008 350 1,710 143,400 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Figures exclude some short term flows not captured by the relevant scans. 3. Figures exclude flows where people move out of one area and into another while remaining on the benefit. 4. Figures include people with entitlement but who do not actually receive Carer's Allowance, for example, because of the overlapping benefits rule.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

Child Support Agency: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Child Support Agency office in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.

Helen Goodman: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the Hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
	and;
	How much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.
	The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission took responsibility for the Child Support Agency from 1 November 2008. The available information on the number of directors, senior managers, specialist, delivery managers, executive support and administration people is set out in the attached Table 1. The information provided includes some elements of estimation due to the significant organisational changes since 2005, and in particular within the past year meaning that it is difficult to make like for like comparisons.
	Over the period from 2004 to 2009, two separate Department for Work and Pensions schemes for payment of bonuses have operated within the Child Support Agency; a modest special bonus scheme and an individual performance bonus scheme. The guidelines, policy funding and framework for these schemes were set by the Department. Individual performance bonuses are based on annual appraisal markings and are awarded at the end of the operational year. Additional special bonuses can be awarded to an individual outside the annual appraisal system, to recognise and reward an exceptional personal or team achievement.
	Table 2 shows the total amount paid to Agency employees as individual performance bonuses for the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 only. For the period 2004-05 to 2006-07, we are unable to analyse the total spend by job role and have therefore given information on the total spend in each year. Information on special bonus payments broken down by job role is also not available. The total spend is therefore shown for all employees for all years requested.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Table 1: Breakdown of Child Support Agency employees by job description 
			   March 2009 
			  Location  Specialist Manager  Delivery Manager  Senior Manager  Director  Grand Total 
			 Birkenhead CSAC 9.54 47.33 2 — 58.87 
			 Dudley CSAC 11.54 53.17 2 — 66.71 
			 Falkirk CSAC 10.54 50.85 4 — 65.39 
			 Hastings CSAC 10.69 43.82 1 — 55.51 
			 Plymouth CSAC 11.96 52.06 2 — 66.02 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Benton Park View 235.05 25.59 29 1 290.64 
			 Other Sites 44.28 111.05 13 1 169.33 
			 Grand Total 333.6 383.87 53 2 772.47 
			 Total All Staff Employed — — — — 9.014 
		
	
	
		
			  March 2008 
			  Location  Specialist Manager  Delivery Manager  Senior Manager  Director  Grand Total 
			 Birkenhead CSAC 11.43 46.31 2 — 59.74 
			 Dudley CSAC 15.13 44.48 2 — 61.61 
			 Falkirk CSAC 11.84 55.03 4 — 70.87 
			 Hastings CSAC 15.58 42.07 1 — 58.65 
			 Plymouth CSAC 8.97 52 2 — 62.97 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Benton Park View 256.41 20.76 25 4 306.17 
			 Other Sites 58.68 114.24 11 3 186.92 
			 Grand Total 378.04 374.89 47 7 806.93 
			 Total All Staff Employed — — — — 9,502 
		
	
	
		
			  March 2007 
			  Location  Specialist Manager  Delivery Manager  Senior Manager  Director  Grand Total 
			 Birkenhead CSAC 9.75 40.97 2 — 53.82 
			 Dudley CSAC 13.13 49.2 4 — 67.09 
			 Falkirk CSAC 17.43 46.28 2 — 65.71 
			 Hastings CSAC 10.56 26.15 1 — 37.71 
			 Plymouth CSAC 8.96 51.23 2 — 64.05 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Benton Park View 277.38 14.97 25.61 4 321.96 
			 Other Sites 79.76 111.17 14.06 4 208.99 
			 Grand Total 416.97 339.97 50.67 8 819.33 
			 Total All Staff Employed — — — — 1,1225 
		
	
	
		
			  March 2006 
			  Location  Specialist Manager  Delivery Manager  Senior Manager  Director  Grand Total 
			 Birkenhead CSAC 9.31 41.86 2 — 53.17 
			 Dudley CSAC 17.4 43.2 1 — 61.6 
			 Falkirk CSAC 24.27 35.6  — 59.87 
			 Hastings CSAC 11.56 29.94  — 41.5 
			 Plymouth CSAC 9.61 49.6 3.94 — 63.15 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Benton Park View 165.08 11.95 15.61 3 195.64 
			 Other Sites 51.84 87.77 10 1 150.61 
			 Grand Total 289.07 299.92 32.55 4 625.54 
			 Total All Staff Employed — — — — 11,034 
		
	
	
		
			  March 2005 
			  Location  Specialist Manager  Delivery Manager  Senior Manager  Director  Grand Total 
			 Birkenhead CSAC 1.86 52.98 3 — 58.27 
			 Dudley CSAC 12.86 65.27 1 — 79.89 
			 Falkirk CSAC 12.35 48.57 1 — 64.4 
			 Hastings CSAC 9.95 50.3 1 — 62.25 
			 Plymouth CSAC 1 60.16 2.94 — 66.1 
			 Newcastle-Upon Tyne Benton Park 212,59 4 13 4 234.24 
			 Other Sites 64.79 92.52 8 — 166,31 
			 Grand Total 315.4 373.8 29.94 4 731,46 
			 Total All Staff Employed — — — — 9,784 
		
	
	
		
			  Estimated Executive and Administrative Support 
			Number 
			 March 2005 Estimate - Based on Number of Senior Managers 28 
			 March 2006 Estimate - Based on Number of Senior Managers 20 
			 March 2007 Estimate - Based on Number of Senior Managers 35 
			 March 2008 By Organisation Design 35 
			 March 2009 By Organisation Design 37 
			  Notes: 1. The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission took responsibility for the Child Support Agency (CSA) from the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 November 2009. As a result, information available on the number of managers and support staff working within the CSA for the 2008-09 year is limited as the existing organisational structure underwent significant change. 2. There will be some managers shown as working for the CSA in the 2008-09 year who may have been working entirely within the new services offered by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. 3. Information on the numbers of Executive Support and Administration Staff can not be extracted from CSA data. An estimate of the number of staff deployed in those roles has therefore been provided. This estimate is extrapolated from the number of senior managers in the CSA for 2005 to 2007, and on the organisational design from 2007-08 and 2008-09. 4. The Child Support Agency operates from six main sites with a supporting network of around 100 smaller sites. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Child Support Agency Bonus Payments by Job Role 
			  £ 000 
			   March 2005  March 2006  March 2007  March 2008  March 2009 
			 Directors (1)— (1)— (1)— 108 30 
			 Senior Managers (1)— (1)— (1)— 237 185 
			 Delivery Managers (1)— (1)— (1)— 181 84 
			 Specialist Managers (1)— (1)— (1)— 162 108 
			 Executive and Admin Support (1)— (1)— (1)— 13 9 
			 Total special bonus paid (all Staff) 450 559 394 358 563 
			 Total of all Bonus Paid (All Staff) 3,768 3,873 3,734 3,977 2,631 
			 (1) Information on bonuses paid in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 can not be broken down by job role.

Children: Maintenance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of implementing the child support elements of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000  (a) were estimated to be on introduction of the legislation and  (b) have been.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 12 June 2009
	The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of implementing the child support elements of the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act 2000  (a) were estimated to be and  (b) have been to date.
	The Child Support Agency's Reform Programme was closed by October 2005, and it had spent £539m on implementing the reforms, compared to an estimated cost in the original business case of £606m.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is taking to resolve cases of arrears in the payment of child maintenance.

Helen Goodman: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is taking to resolve cases of arrears in the payment of child maintenance.
	Collection of maintenance, including arrears, remains a priority for the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. In March 2009 alone, the Commission collected and arranged over £100 million in maintenance, almost £14 million of which was arrears, and collected a total of £158 million in child maintenance arrears in the year to the end of March 2009.
	The current amount of arrears owed by non-resident parents is the cumulative total of sixteen years of maintenance owed. In order to address these cases, the Commission is continually improving enforcement. In the twelve months to January 2009, the Commission completed 120,970 enforcement actions, including almost 70,000 deduction from earnings orders.
	The Commission can already apply to the court for a non-resident parent who wilfully refuses to pay child maintenance to be disqualified from driving or committed to prison. Powers yet to be commenced under the 2008 Act include asking the court to impose a curfew or to disqualify the non-resident parent from holding or obtaining a passport.
	The measures proposed in this year's Welfare Reform Bill include the Commission having the ability to remove passports and driving licences administratively, without needing to go through the courts. It is such measures which we will continue to use to take action against those parents who owe arrears to their children.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations she has received on the adjustment of child maintenance payments to take account of a reduction in the working hours of a non-resident parent.

Helen Goodman: Child maintenance assessments are based on the income of a non-resident parent rather than their working hours. I have responded recently to a parliamentary question on this subject raised by the hon. Member for South (Andrew Selous) in which I confirmed that the Child maintenance and Enforcement Commission routinely re-assesses child maintenance liability once a non-resident parent informs them of a reduction in their working hours which has reduced their income.

Debts: Advisory Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what financial support her Department provided to debt counselling agencies in the latest year for which figures are available.

Helen Goodman: My Department does not currently provide financial support to debt counselling agencies. However, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is providing funding of approximately £28 million in 2009-10 for the face-to-face debt advice project.

Departmental Consultants

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on consultants in 2009.

Jim Knight: The Department has spent £9.7 million on management consultants in the three months from January to March 2009, the latest period for which validated figures are available. This represents a 49 per cent. reduction on the equivalent period in 2008.

Departmental Databases

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  which of the planned databases that will be managed by her Department or one of its agencies and which will hold personal information on members of the public are expected to become operational in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what categories of personal information on members of the public will be held on each of her Department's and its agency's databases expected to become operational in the next five years; what estimate she has made of the likely number of individuals' details each such database will hold when fully operational; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department intends that one new database (known as CAMLite) will become operational during this period. CAMLite will enable improvements in the delivery of services so that customer requirements can be handled more effectively and efficiently, and it will record every contact with a customer. When fully operational, CAMLite is expected to hold details of around seven million customers.
	The categories of personal information that the database is expected to contain will comply with the Department's formal registration under the Data Protection Act.
	Following the publication of the cross Government data handling review in June 2008, privacy impact assessments are conducted where new IT systems hold significant amounts of personal data.

Departmental Manpower

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of employees in her Department are  (a) women and  (b) men; and what the average hourly pay is of the (i) male and (ii) female employees.

Jim Knight: The DWP workforce as at June 2009 is made up of 68 per cent. female and 32 per cent. male. The DWP pays employees an annual salary and does not use an hourly rate. There are seven grades below the senior civil service (SCS) in DWP. Male and female employees in each grade are paid within the same payscale regardless of their gender. An employee's exact position on their payscale will depend upon their personal pay history.
	The most recent DWP Equal Pay Audit published in 2008 shows that the average male and female salaries are £19,911 and £19,085 respectively. This information does not include SCS salaries.

Departmental Postal Services

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on Royal Mail services in each of the last two years.

Jim Knight: The last two financial years of DWP spending with Royal Mail Group is given in the table.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2008-09 184,857,504 
			 2007-08 189,469,725

Departmental Procurement

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress her Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes.

Jim Knight: The Department has built the requirements of the Glover Report into its Commercial Strategy and a revised version was published in March 2009. The Strategy expressly recognises the specialist expertise that small enterprises can provide and states that DWP will encourage the use of small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in its supply chains. The Strategy has objectives to make it easier for suppliers to compete for contracts and to encourage a diverse supply base, it also commits to monitor the use of these enterprises.
	The lead on most of the 12 recommendations of the Glover report is with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The Department fully supports all the recommendations and is actively engaged with OGC to facilitate development and adoption of the new procedures and tools required by Glover. The Department's progress in implementing each of the Glover recommendations is that DWP:
	 (i) advertises key contracts via electronic media and publishes key contract awards electronically, it is on course to do both these things for all contracts via an OGC public sector online portal by 2010 - addressing Glover recommendations 1,2 and 3;
	 (ii) already flags tendering opportunities thought especially suitable for SMEs during the advertising process - meeting Glover recommendation 4;
	 (iii) has adopted standard pre-qualification questionnaires—meeting Glover recommendation 5;
	 (iv) adopts a principle of competitive neutrality so all relevant experience of all bidders is taken into account when selecting tenderers—meeting Glover recommendation 6;
	 (v) takes a flexible approach to supplier accreditation, where appropriate allowing businesses to refer to other accreditations they already hold—meeting Glover recommendation 7;
	 (vi) published its Innovation Procurement Plan on 19th May 2009 which meets the requirements of Glover recommendation 8;
	 (vii) adopts outcome based specifications requiring continuous improvement as a means of driving innovation—meeting Glover recommendation 9;
	 (viii) will expect prime contractors to make their sub-contracting opportunities accessible through an on-line portal, when made available by OGC, and that they use contract conditions for their contractors in DWP supply chains that are no worse than those DWP has with the prime contractor—addressing Glover recommendations 10 and 11;
	 (ix) has, since 2002, reported annually the value of DWP contract spend with SMEs—meeting Glover recommendation 12. The value of DWP contracts with SMEs in 2008/9 was £252 million, about 7 per cent. of total commercial spend in that year.
	In summary the department has made good progress in implementing the Glover recommendations. Its action to date means it has already met seven of the recommendations and, working with OGC, is on course to meet the remaining five recommendations to the set timetable.

Electronic Government

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are being taken to improve the usability of the Directgov website.

Jim Knight: In 2009 Directgov conducted a baseline exercise to benchmark the quality of the website and have put in place a plan for improvement, which is now being implemented as part of the overall web rationalisation and convergence programme.
	Directgov is in the process of designing a further continuous user improvement programme for the Directgov website which will start in 2009. The programme of user testing will involve both citizen and expert reviews. Each wave of research will review a number of different user journeys across the site to identify any usability issues. This is an on-going project. Each wave will test different journeys with different user groups in order to continually improve the customer experience.
	Strategies are being put in place to monitor search engine optimisation, metrics and customer comments to improve the Directgov service by making it easier for people to find what they want.
	Directgov recently improved the design of their Homepage based on feedback from a representative sample of customers. The new Homepage design is structured in a way that allows customers to quickly find essential government information on topical issues such as Swine Flu, and allows customers to easily distinguish main navigation links from secondary and peripheral content.
	Directgov has also commissioned a project that looks at the future shape of the website. The project is following a user-centred design approach with frequent rounds of user testing to ensure optimal findability and usability of content.

Employment and Support Allowance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information her Department holds on the proportion of claimants for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) that  (a) do not meet work capability assessment qualification criteria for receipt of ESA,  (b) meet work capability assessment qualifying criteria for the work related activity group and  (c) meet the criteria for the support group, broken down by type of sickness or impairment; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many work capability assessments have taken place; and what estimate her Department has made of the number and proportion of customers who have taken the work capability assessment who have been moved onto  (a) jobseeker's allowance,  (b) ESA Work Related Activity Group and  (c) ESA Support Group in each month since October 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 20 July 2009
	Detailed Information on the work capability assessment for receipt of employment and support allowance is not available at the present time.
	Employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit for new claims from 27 October 2008. The latest quarterly data available is November 2008. More comprehensive figures are expected to be available when the February 2009 publication is produced in August 2009.

Employment Schemes

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people in each region have participated in the  (a) Workstep,  (b) Work Preparation,  (c) Employment Zones,  (d) Progress2Work,  (e) Work Path and  (f) New Deal for (i) 50 plus, (ii) disabled people, (iii) partners and (iii) musicians programme more than once in each relevant year since 2001;
	(2)  how many people in each region have participated in the  (a) Workstep,  (b) Work Preparation,  (c) Work Path,  (d) Progress2Work and  (e) Employment Zones programme in each (i) relevant year since 2001 and (ii) of the last eight quarters;
	(3)  how many individuals have been on the  (a) Work Trial,  (b) WORKSTEP,  (c) Work Preparation,  (d) WorkPath,  (e) progress2work and  (f) Employment Zones programme more than once in a year by region since their inception.

Jim Knight: New Deal for Musicians is an integral part of New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus. Information on people participating more then once in New Deal for Musicians, New Deal 50 plus, New Deal for Partners and WorkTrial is not collated centrally.
	WorkPath is not a programme in itself, rather an umbrella name for three employment programmes; Access to Work, Work Preparation and WORKSTEP. As such, the information is not available in the format requested.
	Information about Employment Zones is not available by region.
	The available information has been placed in the Library.

Employment Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of 18 to 24 year-olds claiming jobseeker's allowance moving towards 12 months are expected to move on to  (a) a job provided by the Future Jobs Fund,  (b) support to take an existing job in a key employment sector,  (c) a work-focused training place and  (d) a place on the community task force as part of the Government's Young Person's Guarantee.

Jim Knight: We do not forecast unemployment and are therefore unable to predict numbers of take up for each element of the Young Person's Guarantee.
	When the Young Person's Guarantee is introduced early next year, all 18 to 24-year-olds approaching 12 months unemployment on jobseeker's allowance will be guaranteed an offer of either a job under the Future Jobs Fund, support to take a job in a key employment sector, a work focussed training place or a place on a community task force.

Employment Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what recent estimate she has made of the average cost per participant in  (a) the Future Jobs Fund,  (b) the Community Task Force,  (c) training under the Young Person's Guarantee and  (d) support to obtain an existing job in a key employment sector;
	(2)  what recent estimate she has made of  (a) the likely average cost per participant of the Young Persons' Guarantee in 2009-10,  (b) the number of young people aged between 18 and 24 years old likely to participate in the Young Persons' Guarantee in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12 and  (c) the cost of the Young Persons' Guarantee in the next three years;
	(3)  what estimate she has made of the cost of  (a) the Community Task Force and  (b) additional training places provided under the Young Persons' Guarantee in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12.

Jim Knight: The estimated average costs are commercially sensitive but will be met within the allocated budget for the Young Person's Guarantee.
	The Government do not publish unemployment forecasts. We will, however, meet the terms of the Young Person's Guarantee and all 18 to 24-year-olds will receive an offer of employment, training or community work.
	Funding has not been allocated beyond 2010-11.
	Funding for the Community Task Force and the Work-Focused Training was announced as part of the Budget settlement for the Young Person's Guarantee funding. The budget for the Young Person's Guarantee is approximately £1.1 billion over 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	The budget for the training element of the Young Person's Guarantee is £122 million over 2009-11.
	We are unable to estimate the cost of the Community Task Force element as expenditure will depend on the demand for the programme.

Employment Schemes

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how Jobcentre Plus plans to inform 18 to 24 year-olds jobseekers of the job guarantee scheme announced on 22 April 2009; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: All Jobcentre Plus advisers will be made aware of the jobs and training opportunities created by the young persons guarantee in their area. Jobcentre Plus staff will ensure that all eligible customers are made aware of the relevant opportunities. This will be an integral part of the ongoing support given to customers to find work.

Employment Schemes

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what means 18 to 24 year olds who have been unemployed for over 12 months at the time of the introduction of the job guarantee announced on 22 April 2009 will be given access to the scheme; what priority will be accorded to them in relation to 18 to 24 year olds who become unemployed for over 12 months after the introduction of the scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Customers who are already in long-term unemployment need intensive support and this is best delivered out with the Young Person's Guarantee. When the guarantee is introduced young people who have been unemployed for 12 months or more will already be receiving this support through either the Flexible New Deal or other existing programmes.

Employment Schemes: Lone Parents

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents have received a training allowance of up to £400 since September 2007.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 15 May 2009
	This training allowance refers to Train to Gain. This is administered by the Learning Skills Council and sits within the stewardship BIS.

Employment Services

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to help the long-term unemployed return to work.

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to assist people who have been out of work for over a year; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department is keen to ensure that everyone who is out of work has the support they need to find a job, and this help increases the longer someone has been unemployed.
	The introduction of the flexible new deal in phase 1 areas from October 2009 will establish a new, unified approach for every jobseeker, whatever their age, skills or barriers to work, from the 12-month point of their claim. The flexible new deal will deliver work-focused support, tailored to each individual's needs and local labour market requirements. It is envisaged that we will introduce this scheme in phase 2 areas from October 2010.
	Until the flexible new deal is introduced, the new deals will continue to run in phase 2 areas.
	The 2009 Budget made an additional £2.8 billion available to DWP, on top of the £1.3 billion funding announced in the pre-Budget report, which will ensure we can continue to maintain our support to jobseekers through the economic downturn, including funding to support the flexible new deal.
	£1.1 billion of this will fund the young person's guarantee; from January 2010, all customers aged 18-24 who are approaching 12 months of their claim to jobseeker's allowance will have access to one of the following offers:
	A new job created through the Future Jobs Fund;
	Support to move into an existing job in a key employment sector;
	Work-focused training; or
	A work experience placement through the Community Task Force.
	Some elements of the guarantee will be available sooner. In October of this year the first jobs created by the Future Jobs Fund will be available, and training to enter key employment sectors will be available in the autumn.
	Jobseeker's allowance customers can do unlimited volunteering, and train for up to 16 hours per week, alongside active job search. Jobseekers may also undertake up to two weeks of full-time training in any 12-month period, without jeopardising their benefit entitlements.

Employment: Young People

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to assist young people who are out of work; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department is committed to giving everyone the support they need to find employment as quickly as possible, whatever their age.
	On 6 April 2009, as part of the Government's response to the economic downturn, the Department for Work and Pensions put in place extra support for newly unemployed customers, including information and advice about the latest job search techniques and coaching on how to make the most of transferable skills. Extra help for those who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months was also introduced, including recruitment subsidies, work-focused training, support to become self-employed and opportunities to volunteer.
	Because the Government are determined that young people should not be permanently disadvantaged by the economic downturn, from next year, all customers aged 18-24 who are approaching 12 months of their claim to jobseeker's allowance will have access to the young person's guarantee. From January 2010, this group will be given access to either:
	A new job created through the future jobs fund;
	Support to move into an existing job in a key employment sector;
	Work-focused training; or
	A work experience placement through the community task force.
	Some elements of the guarantee will be available sooner. In October of this year the first jobs created by the future jobs fund will be available. Training to enter key employment sectors will be available in the autumn.
	Since last autumn, the Department has also quadrupled the available funding for the rapid response service, which provides advice and support to customers facing redundancy. It has extended local employment partnerships, the adviser discretionary fund and access to work so they are available to customers from the first day of their claim, alongside the support they receive from their Jobcentre Plus personal adviser.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of  (a) consultants and advisers to and  (b) administration of the Financial Assistance Scheme has been in each year since its establishment.

Angela Eagle: The administration costs for the Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit are set out in the following table. The earlier years include one-off set-up costs.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Administration(1) (2)1.06 (2)4.730 (2)3.968 2.328 (3)2.283 
			 Consultants and advisers(4) 0 0.034 0.323 0.036 0.206 
			 (1) Excludes overheads such as estates which are met from DWP corporate budgets. (2) Includes one-off costs for implementation, which were not accounted for separately. (3) Excludes one-off costs for implementation of the December 2007 announcement and the transfer of the FAS functions to the Board of the Pension Protection Fund which are now accounted for separately—£2.621 million. (4) Includes the cost of consultants relating to policy development and the transfer of the FAS functions.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the decline in real value has been of Financial Assistance Scheme annuities since 1997; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the average difference between Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) annuities and the expected annuities lost after 1997 by pensioners enrolled in the FAS; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: 666 schemes qualify for the Financial Assistance Scheme. Of these, trustees responsible for 446 schemes have bought or expect to buy annuities to cover all or some of scheme members' entitlements. These annuities may include provision for indexation, but detailed information on this is not currently available.
	The Financial Assistance Scheme will top up these annuities to 90 per cent. of expected pension at the date of wind-up, subject to an overall limit of £26,000, and regulations currently before Parliament would make provision for this top-up to include indexation on rights accrued after 1997.

Funeral Payments

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long on average elapsed between her Department's receipt of an application for a funeral payment and any payment being made in the last period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: The average actual clearance time for funeral payments processed in the financial year to date (April to June 2009) was 13.9 working days.
	 Notes:
	1. The information provided is management information. Our preference is to answer all queries using official/National Statistics but in this case we only have management information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as official/National Statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include claims which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund computer system.
	2. The clearance time for an individual funeral payment claim is measured in whole working days from the date the claim is received to the date of the decision, inclusive. The minimum clearance time recorded for an individual claim is one day, even if the claim is processed immediately.
	3. The average actual clearance time is based on all claims, both those where a payment was made and those which were refused.
	4. The average actual clearance time is based on claims processed during April to June 2009 not on claims received then.
	5. Once a decision has been taken, any payment is normally made straightaway.
	 Source:
	DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Future Jobs Fund: Wales

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to paragraph 30 of the Building Britain's Future document, Cm 7654, whether the £1 billion Future Jobs Fund to cover new jobs in areas of high unemployment applies to Wales; and by what mechanisms this fund is to be distributed.

Jim Knight: Employers in Wales are eligible to apply to the Future Jobs Fund. The definition of an area of high unemployment is one in which the unemployment rate is 1.5 percentage points above the national average. This flexible definition gives organisations the opportunity to develop bids with a narrow focus (such as wards) or a much broader base (such as partnerships of several local authorities).
	The Department for Work and Pensions will distribute the Fund to successful bidders. The amount paid will depend on the details of the successful bid.

Glasgow

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether she plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer adjournment.

Yvette Cooper: At present I have no such plans.

Housing Benefit

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will commission research into the effect of local housing allowance on vulnerable tenants who find it difficult to manage their personal finances.

Helen Goodman: The Department has committed to completing a review of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme over a two-year period, starting from the commencement of its roll-out in April 2008. The aim of the review is to monitor the impact of the LHA at a national level, against the original LHA policy objectives.
	The review will include a qualitative study of tenants and advisers, which will consider the impact of LHA on tenants who find it difficult to manage their finances. Safeguards are in place that enable local authorities to make payments of LHA to the landlord in circumstances where tenants are in arrears or where they are likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments.

Housing Benefit: Morecambe

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency were in receipt of housing benefit on the latest date for which figures are available.

Helen Goodman: Housing Benefit information is not available at constituency level.

Incapacity Benefit

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) the UK,  (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and  (c) York (i) applied for incapacity benefit, (ii) were required to attend a personal capability assessment, (iii) had their incapacity benefit refused following an assessment and (iv) had their incapacity benefit reinstated following a review or appeal in the latest 12 month period for which information is available.

Jonathan R Shaw: The available information covering Great Britain is provided in the following tables. Information is not available on the number of people who had their incapacity benefit award reinstated following a review or appeal in the last 12 months.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit applications received June 2008 to May 2009 
			   Number 
			 Great Britain 385,699 
			 Yorkshire and Humber region 35,111 
			 York Benefit Delivery Centre 3,566 
			  Note:  York Benefit Delivery Centre processes incapacity benefit applications for North Yorkshire area.   Source:  Jobcentre Plus Management Information System Programme. 
		
	
	
		
			  People required to attend a Personal Capability Assessment from June 2008 to May 2009 
			   Number 
			 Great Britain 456,153 
			 Yorkshire and Humber region 43,292 
			 York 2,464 
			  Notes:  1. Not all applications for incapacity benefit will require a Personal Capability Assessment.  2. The figures given for York include all those postcodes commencing with YO.   Source:  Commercial Employment Provision. 
		
	
	The number of assessment is greater than the number of applications received for the same period. This is because it includes all current incapacity benefit recipients who were required to have an assessment.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit claims terminated for failing a Personal Capability Assessment/Own Occupation Test between December 2007 and November 2008 
			   Number 
			 Great Britain 135,000 
			 Yorkshire and Humber region 13,900 
			  Notes:  1. Figures do not include any late notifications and are subject to change.  2. Figures rounded to nearest 100.  3. Figures for York not provided as nil or negligible due to small sampling size.   Source:  Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate five per cent. Samples.

Incapacity Benefit

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many work-focused interviews her Department plans to conduct for recipients of  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) employment and support allowance aged between (i) 18 and 24, (ii) 25 and 49 and (iii) 50 and 64 years old in each of the next two years.

Jonathan R Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead, (Mrs. May) on 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 70W.
	From October 2009 we plan to provide three work-focused interviews to existing incapacity benefits claimants under the age of 25 in Jobcentre Plus-led Pathways to Work areas. We estimate that there will be 28,000 individuals in this group.
	From October 2010 we shall be providing existing incapacity benefit claimants aged 25 to 49 with three Work-focused interviews as they migrate to Employment and Support Allowance. Those aged over 50 will receive one work-focused interview, also on migration.
	New customers to Employment and Support Allowance from October 2010 will receive quarterly work-focused interviews as well as the six monthly work-focused interviews that current Employment and Support Allowance customers receive.

Incapacity Benefit

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of claimants of  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) employment and support allowance, are recorded as receiving the benefit and not making a job start after having attended (i) one work-focused interview, (ii) two or three work-focused interviews, (iii) between four and six work-focused interviews and (iv) more than six work-focused interviews.

Jonathan R Shaw: This information is available only at disproportionate costs.

Incapacity Benefit

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate her Department has made of the average cost of conducting a work-focused interview for a claimant of either incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance; and how many work-focused interviews have been undertaken for  (a) existing incapacity benefit claimants and  (b) new employment and support allowance claimants in each month of the last three years for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: The estimated cost of conducting a work-focused interview for a claimant of either incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance within Jobcentre Plus is £35. This does not include the costs of any subsequent work-focused provision that a claimant may be referred to.
	Information on the number of work-focused interviews conducted is available only at disproportionate cost.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department has paid out  (a) under the provisions of the Pneumoconiosis Act 1979,  (b) in Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and  (c) under the provisions of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 to people with long latency diseases in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Information on the monies paid out in each of the last five years under the provisions of the Pneumoconiosis Act 1979 is in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Expenditure (£ million, cash) 
			 2004-05 21 
			 2005-06 25 
			 2006-07 26 
			 2007-08 27 
			 2008-09 32 
			  Note: Figures rounded to the nearest £ million.  Source: DWP statistical and accounting data 
		
	
	Available information on the monies paid through industrial injuries disablement benefit on long latency diseases is in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Expenditure (£ million, cash) 
			 2004-05 36 
			 2005-06 39 
			 2006-07 40 
			  Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest £ million. 2. Industrial injuries disablement benefit expenditure on particular diseases is estimated using annual statistical data. Latest finalised annual statistical data are for 2006-07.  Source: DWP statistical and accounting data 
		
	
	The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 made provision for the introduction of the 2008 Mesothelioma Scheme. This scheme was introduced in October 2008, and expenditure up to March 2009 was £5.5 million.
	 Source:
	DWP statistical and accounting data, excludes Northern Ireland payments under this scheme.

Jobcentre Plus

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus accredited providers there were in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: Jobcentre Plus providers undertake accreditation if the value of the contract is greater than £50,000 (the level was initially set at £10,000 for 2005-06).
	We do not hold any accreditation information earlier than 2005.
	There are two types of accreditation: passed and passed conditionally. Passed means they meet all the criteria for accreditation and passed conditionally means they meet most of the criteria but must review and address issues before undergoing accreditation renewal the following year. The increase in the number of passed conditionally reflects changes in legislation which requires providers to take additional steps to bring current practices in line with the new requirements. The following table sets out the number of providers accredited in each year since June 2005.
	
		
			   Passed  Passed conditionally  Total 
			 June 2005 to December 2005 51 0 51 
			 January 2006 to December 2006 436 47 483 
			 January 2007 to December 2007 300 62 362 
			 January 2008 to December 2008 345 99 444 
			 January 2009 to 3 July 2009 (To date) 212 57 269 
			  Source: Commercial Directorate Solutions. 
		
	
	Accreditation is renewed annually. The renewal date is dependent on the original date of application. The figure for January to 3 July 2009 represents providers whose accreditation date has fallen within these months. Our current list of accredited providers totals 458 and therefore we will be expecting a further 189 providers to seek accreditation renewal in the remaining months of the year, notwithstanding any new applications or contracts being ended. Details of our accredited suppliers are published on Supplying DWP.
	To date, there has only been one provider who failed. Upon notification, the provider worked with the DWP and the accreditation contractor addressed the concerns and upon resubmission, they achieved accreditation. The Department when requested will assist providers with guidance to help meet the accreditation requirements.

Jobcentre Plus

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average annual cost of running a Jobcentre Plus office was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average cost of operating each office function was.

Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your question asking what the average annual cost of running a Jobcentre Plus office was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average cost of operating each office function was. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The average annual direct cost of running a customer facing Jobcentre Plus office in 2008/09 was approximately £550k. The actual cost of running each office varies widely dependant on their size and the number of staff employed in the office.
	The majority of the direct costs are the salary costs of staff employed in the Jobcentre Plus office. Other costs associated with running the Jobcentre Plus offices such as estates costs, IT costs, payroll and financial services are dealt with nationally and are not included in the direct cost stated above.

Jobcentre Plus

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 65W, on Jobcentre Plus, how much her Department has spent on converting or extending existing Jobcentre Plus offices where necessary; and what the total expected cost is of making all necessary conversions and expansions to Jobcentre Plus to cope with capacity pressures.

Jim Knight: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question, pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 65W, on Jobcentre Plus, how much her Department has spent on converting or extending existing Jobcentre Plus offices where necessary, and what the total expected cost is of making all necessary conversions and expansions to Jobcentre Plus to cope with capacity pressures. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus are continuously reviewing existing service delivery arrangements in order to meet the challenge of the current economic climate and the planned welfare reform changes for the next two to three years. The latest reviews have taken account of the most up to date information on the expected increases in business and customer volumes.
	In the light of the unprecedented customer demand we have secured the required funding to convert or extend our existing buildings where necessary. In addition, we aim to make our services accessible to customers by providing a range of support through outreach facilities, often delivering advisory and other support on partners' premises. We are supplementing these measures by operating extended opening hours in some locations where the need for this is identified locally. This includes some offices opening to the public on Saturday. We will therefore only acquire new space where all other measures are insufficient.
	As at 30 June 2009, estates work had been undertaken and completed on 18 of our buildings at a cost of £1m, increasing our capacity to deliver additional customer service to the public. Estates work is planned on a further 151 buildings. This work is currently at an early stage and therefore the costs are not fully known.

Jobcentre Plus

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 65W, on Jobcentre Plus, which Jobcentre Plus offices are operating  (a) extended opening hours and  (b) Saturday openings.

Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2009 Official Report column 65W on Jobcentre Plus if she will list the Jobcentre Plus offices which are operating (a) extended opening hours and (b) Saturday openings. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The most recent list of Jobcentre Plus offices which are operating extended service hours and/or operating on Saturdays, along with details of our normal hours of business and the areas involved in the extended opening hours pilot have been placed in the Library.
	Our normal hours of business vary across the different services that we provide, predominantly on the basis of customer demand. Typically Jobcentres had been open from 9am to 5pm, except Wednesdays where we opened at 10am to allow for staff training and communications—a practice not uncommon in customer-facing organisations.
	We have been keeping that position under constant review since November 2008 in the light of rising workloads and taken a number of steps in response. Specifically we have:
	asked existing staff to work additional hours to allow us to provide extended service hours;
	ensured that all new recruits are on an 8am to 8pm contract to allow greater flexibility in our service hours;
	suspended the Wednesday late opening hour; and
	commenced a structured pilot of extended opening hours across our key service lines.

Jobcentre Plus

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Maidenhead of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 63-4W, on Jobcentre Plus, what the locations are of  (a) the 18 buildings that have already been modified and  (b) the 151 buildings her Department is planning to modify; how much has been spent on the 18 Jobcentre Plus buildings that have already been modified to increase capacity; and if she will estimate the cost of modifying 151 Jobcentre Plus buildings to increase capacity.

Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking her, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2009, Official Report, column 63-4W, to list the locations of (a) the 18 buildings that have already been modified and (b) the 151 buildings her Department is planning to modify; how much has been spent on the 18 Jobcentre Plus buildings that have already been modified to increase capacity; and for an estimate of the cost of modifying 151 Jobcentre Plus buildings to increase capacity. This is something which falls with the responsibilities to me as Acting Chief Executive.
	As at 30 June 2009, estates work had been undertaken and completed on 18 of our buildings at a cost of £1m, increasing our capacity to deliver additional customer service to the public. Our response to the current capacity pressure within Jobcentre Plus is progressing on a daily basis. The latest available information has been placed in the Library.

Jobcentre Plus: Finance

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding Jobcentre Plus has been given to deal with the increased numbers of unemployed people in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question asking how much funding Jobcentre Plus has been given to deal with the increased numbers of unemployed people in the last 12 months. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The funding announced in both the November 2008 pre-budget report and Budget 2009, means that Jobcentre Plus budgets have increased by approximately £2,032m over 2009/10 and 2010/11 compared with original plans. The remainder of the funding to the Department will go towards other areas which are affected by the recession, such as employment programmes and funding to local authorities for the administration of Housing Benefit.

Jobcentre Plus: Interviews

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance her Department has issued to Jobcentre Plus on the duration of jobseeker's interviews; whether jobseeker interviews are required to be on a one-to-one basis; how frequently jobseekers may be required to sign on; what recent guidance her Department has issued to Jobcentre Plus on caseload management; and if she will place in the Library a copy of this guidance.

Jim Knight: Jobcentre Plus operations are built around the need to provide the support that people need to help them find work as soon as possible.
	The average length of the initial interview is 40 minutes, but the actual time taken will vary depending upon individual customer needs. Everyone making a claim for jobseeker's allowance (JSA) has this one-to-one interview with a personal adviser to assess their circumstances, discuss and set in place a jobseeker's agreement and make sure they have information about and access to the help they need. The interview may be shorter if, for example, some of the information is already held.
	Following the initial interview, jobseekers are normally then asked to attend the local office fortnightly for a jobsearch review. The average time allocation for these contacts is 7.5 minutes, but the actual time taken will vary depending upon customer needs. For those people who do not find work quickly, a review is undertaken at or around 13 weeks. The average length of this review is 20 minutes, but the method of delivery and duration of contact will vary, depending upon individual needs. Further interviews take place if the claim lasts longer and interviews taking place at key points such as six months would be of a longer duration.
	Detailed guidance has been issued to Jobcentre Plus staff, particularly in view of the introduction of new services in April. Copies have been placed in the Library.

Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will instruct Jobcentre Plus to permit its telephones to be used for calls made for the purpose of applying for a crisis loan.

Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is the responsibility of the acting chief executive, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking if she will instruct Jobcentre Plus to permit its telephones to be used for calls made for the purpose of applying for a crisis loan. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Our position on this issue was set out for the Work and Pensions Select Committee in Neil Couling's letter to Terry Rooney dated 9 July 2008. A copy of that letter is attached.
	I hope this is helpful.
	 Letter from Neil Couling:
	Early in the New Year, I wrote to you outlining a pilot we were running to allow vulnerable customers to make applications for Social Fund Crisis Loans (SFCLs) using Customer Access Points (CAPs or 'warm phones') in Jobcentres. This follows the Committee's recommendation in its 2006-07 report. We worked with the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union to agree these arrangements. The small pilot ran from 7 January to 28 March this year and we have now completed the evaluation, which I have attached.
	Our current procedures mean that, customers cannot use warm phones to make SFCL applications. This is because a customer could receive an adverse decision in an unscreened area and so, if aggrieved, could pose a risk to themselves, staff or other customers. This control measure is a key part of our agreement with the PCS on working in unscreened offices. The result is that, at present, some vulnerable customers—who use a face-to-face procedure instead of our normal channel of making a telephone claim from home—are referred to a screened office to receive their decision (be that favourable or adverse).
	The main replacement control measures for the pilot, agreed with the PCS, meant that Floor Managers and Customer Care Officers were always aware of calls of this type, and—crucially—that the Decision Maker in the Benefit Delivery Centre would contact the Jobcentre on a dedicated telephone line if the application was about to be refused. This allows the Floor Manager and Customer Care Officers to be in place to offer any further assistance to the customer on receipt of an adverse decision. Given the potential risks, and PCS concerns to such an approach, we agreed to a small pilot which ran in five offices in Northumbria.
	During the three month pilot seven customers used the service, compared to two using the existing face-to-face service in the preceding 14 months in the whole Northumbria District. Four were awarded a Crisis Loan and there were no incidents of unacceptable customer behaviour linked to any of these customers.
	The qualitative evaluation revealed that Jobcentre staff locally were confident that this service was restricted to appropriately vulnerable customers; that they enjoyed the discretion and flexibility this service provided; and, that it was an improvement in access for those customers who are currently turned away or sent to a screened office for a face-to-face decision.
	Whilst this pilot has been encouraging, we do not feel that it provides sufficiently strong evidence to roll out nationally—volumes were low and, as the evaluation report reveals, the effectiveness of the alternative control measures was not properly tested. To ensure that this is a safe and effective approach we intend to pilot the scheme again in London, with the option to roll out nationally if it is successful.
	We will consult the Public and Commercial Services Union on this basis. We also need to develop the approach along side Accessing Jobcentre Customer Services (AJCS), which seeks to enhance services for vulnerable customers, and any changes to the Social Fund. Given these factors, and the full change agenda facing Jobcentre Plus—including the rollout of the Employment and Support Allowance—we are looking to run this large scale pilot as early as is practicable 2009.
	I hope this is helpful and that you are encouraged, as we are, by these early findings. I will update you as the pilot progresses and am happy to answer any question that you or the Committee have in the meantime.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bury North of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 270W, on mortgages: Government assistance, how many claims for mortgage relief made with  (a) jobseeker's allowance and  (b) income support were (i) received, (ii) processed, (iii) awarded and (iv) refused in each jobcentre in each region in (A) January 2008 and (B) January 2009; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bury North of 10 March 2009,  Official Report, column 270W, on mortgages: Government assistance, how many claims for mortgage relief made with  (a) jobseeker's allowance and  (b) income support were (i) received, (ii) processed, (iii) awarded and (iv) refused in each jobcentre in each region in (A) January 2008 and (B) January 2009; and if he will make a statement. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Claims with a mortgage interest element are received by our Benefit Delivery Centres. I can provide you with data for both January 2008 and January 2009 by Benefit Delivery Centre, but not by Jobcentre as you have requested. Information by Jobcentre in each region could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	For Jobseeker's Allowance, we collect data on claims with a mortgage interest element received and claims processed. Our benefit processing system for Jobseeker's Allowance does not record data about the number of awards and refusals.
	For Income Support, we record data about claims with a mortgage interest element
	received, processed, awarded and refused.
	The available information has been placed in the Library.

New Deal Schemes: Hemsworth

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged between 18 and 24 in Hemsworth constituency have received assistance under the New Deal since 1997; and how many such people have moved into employment.

Jim Knight: People aged between 18 and 24 can benefit from the New Deal for Young People, which was rolled out nationally from April 1998. In the Hemsworth constituency 2,430 young people entered the New Deal up to February 2009. 1,640 people went on from the New Deal into work up to November 2008, which is the latest date for which data are available.
	 Note
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	 Source
	Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate

New Deal Schemes: Lancashire

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency have received assistance through New Deal schemes in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The information requested is in the following tables:
	
		
			  Time series of starters (individuals), people starting all new deal programmes in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency 
			   Number of people 
			 1998 320 
			 1999 500 
			 2000 440 
			 2001 460 
			 2002 540 
			 2003 530 
			 2004 550 
			 2005 590 
			 2006 580 
			 2007 820 
			 2008 870 
			 2009 150 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. Parliamentary constituency (post May 2005) is allocated using the ONS Postcode Directory and customer's postcode.  3. The new deal for young people pilots began in January 1998 and full national roll-out occurred in April 1998.  4. The new deal for 25plus programme was introduced in July 1998.  5. The new deal for lone parents programme was introduced in October 1988.  6. The new deal for disabled people was introduced in July 2001.  7. Data on new deal 50plus is available from January 2004 (programme was introduced in April 2000).  8. Data for new deal for partners are available from April 2004 (programme started in May 1999).  Source:  Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate. 
		
	
	
		
			  Time series of jobs (individuals), people gaining a job for each new deal programme in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency 
			   Number of people 
			 1998 150 
			 1999 400 
			 2000 370 
			 2001 350 
			 2002 370 
			 2003 440 
			 2004 410 
			 2005 450 
			 2006 380 
			 2007 400 
			 2008 400 
			 2009 — 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. Parliamentary constituency (post May 2005) is allocated using the ONS Postcode Directory and customer's postcode.  3. Jobs gained from April 2006 are identified mainly from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal study.  4. Jobs are allocated to the year that the job was gained.  5. Latest data available are to November 2008.  Source:  Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate.

Pathways to Work

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many customers of Pathways to Work have been awarded Return to Work Credit where no job start had been recorded since the inception of the credit; and what the total monetary value was of those awards in each year for which data is available.

Jim Knight: holding answer 20 July 2009
	11,200 individuals found work as a result of Provider Led Pathways to Work. Of these 4,500 did not claim the Return to Work Credit, 3,230 claimed the Return to Work Credit and appear on HM Revenue and Customs data. 3,470 claimed Return to Work Credit but are not recorded as having a job on the HM Revenue and Customs database. A further 20 individuals, who had found a job through Workstep did not appear on either the Return to Work Credit or the HM Revenue and Customs database.
	137,110 individuals found work as a result of Jobcentre Plus Pathways to Work. Of these 54,830 did not claim the Return to Work Credit, 28,530 claimed the Return to Work Credit and appear on HM Revenue and Customs data. 41,770 claimed Return to Work Credit but are not recorded as having a job on the HM Revenue and Customs database. A further 11,980 individuals who had found a job through Workstep or New Deal for Disabled People did not appear on either the Return to Work Credit or the HM Revenue and Customs database.
	There are several reasons, for example low earnings or self-employment, why someone in work should not appear on the HM Revenue and Customs database as this only covers those eligible to pay PAYE.
	The Return to Work Credit is a payment of £40 a week for up to 52 weeks if earnings are no more than £15,000 a year, gross, and where certain other eligibility conditions are satisfied. It is not possible to give monetary values in the form requested.
	 Note
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Pathways to Work

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many customers have made starts onto Pathways to Work since the programme's inception; how many have been recorded as making job starts; and how many customers who started jobs remain in employment.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 20 July 2009
	Official statistics on the number of participants in Pathways to Work are available up to January 2009, these are published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/ib_ref_ p2w.asp
	Data on starts is available up to January 2009. Data on job entries is available up to October 2008. To allow for comparisons between starts and job entries over the same time period, starts to Pathways are shown up to the end of October 2008. Official statistics use both HMRC data and Return to Work Credit data to calculate how many Pathways customers have moved into employment. Information on job end dates can only be derived for individuals who have a matching employment spell on the HMRC data. Individuals who have started jobs in the six months prior to the end of October 2008 will not have had time to sustain their employment for at least six months. Numbers of individuals who remain in employment for six months on this database are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of individuals who started Pathways to Work and subsequently found employment 
			   Number of individuals  Of which:  are Return to Work credit only starts  Of which:  are job outcome target job entries  Of which:  are job outcome target job entries sustained for at least six months 
			 Provider - Led Pathways starts 101,230 — — — 
			 Jobcentre Plus Pathways starts 812,470 — — — 
			 Provider - Led Pathways job entries 11,200 3,470 7,720 1.170 
			 Jobcentre Plus Pathways job entries 137,110 42,190 83,360 39,230 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. If a person has started employment more than once in the period, then their most recent employment is counted.  Source:  DWP Jobcentre Plus and Provider-Led databases

Pathways to Work

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many customers who have made job starts under Pathways to Work have remained in employment for spells of  (a) under 13 weeks,  (b) between 13 and 26 weeks,  (c) between 26 and 52 weeks and  (d) over 53 weeks.

Jim Knight: holding answer 20 July 2009
	Official statistics on the number of participants in Pathways to Work are available up to January 2009, these are published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/i_ref_p2w.asp
	Data on starts is available up to January 2009. Data on job entries is available up to October 2008. The following table shows the duration of jobs for all jobs up to October 2007. This is to allow sufficient time for a customer to have remained in work for 12 months. Official statistics use both HMRC data and Return to Work Credit data to calculate how many Pathways customers have moved into employment. Information on job end dates can only be derived for individuals who have a matching employment spell on the HMRC data. Numbers of individuals who remain in employment on this database are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of individuals with job entries in Pathways to Work areas and the employment duration of those which have an HMRC record 
			  Duration in employment  Provider-led  Jobcentre Plus 
			 Total job entries (up to end of October 2008) 11,200 137,110 
			
			 Total job entries (up to end of October 2007) n/a 90,070 
			  Of which:   
			 Are HMRC-recorded jobs n/a 51,330 
			 Under 13 weeks n/a 14,400 
			 13 to 26 weeks n/a 7,500 
			 26 to 52 weeks n/a 7,260 
			 52 weeks and over n/a 22,170 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. If a person has started employment more than once in the period, then their most recent employment is counted.  Source: DWP Jobcentre Plus and Provider-led databases

Pathways to Work

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate her Department has made of  (a) the number of customers which have started Pathways to Work and  (b) the proportion of Pathways to Work customers who have made recorded job starts in each year for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 20 July 2009
	Official statistics on the number of participants in Pathways to Work are available up to January 2009, these are published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/ib_ref_p2w.asp
	Data on starts to Pathways is available up to January 2009. Data on job entries is available up to October 2008. As a result, the numbers who find employment within 91 days of their last contact with Pathways for the years 2008 and 2009 years are not fully complete as not all customers have had time to move into employment. Numbers of individuals who start Pathways and move into employment are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of individuals who started Pathways to Work and subsequently found employment in Pathfinder-led areas 
			   Individual Pathfinder-led starts  Number which find employment within 91 days of last contact with Pathways  Proportion of Pathfinder-led starts which entered employment within 91 days of last contact with Pathways (percentage) 
			 October 2003 to December 2003 n/a n/a n/a 
			 January 2004 to December 2004 n/a n/a n/a 
			 January 2005 to December 2005 n/a n/a n/a 
			 January 2006 to December 2006 n/a n/a n/a 
			 January 2007 to December 2007 1,960 650 33.3 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of individuals who started Pathways to Work and subsequently found employment in Jobcentre Plus areas 
			   Individual Jobcentre Plus starts  Number of which found employment within 91 days of last contact with Pathways  Proportion of Jobcentre Plus starts which entered employment within 91 days of last contact with Pathways (percentage) 
			 October 2003 to December 2003 6,160 1,330 21.6 
			 January 2004 to December 2004 72,920 14,490 19.9 
			 January 2005 to December 2005 104,390 17,410 16.7 
			 January 2006 to December 2006 209,020 35,450 17.0 
			 January 2007 to December 2007 301,060 56,490 18.8 
			 Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. If a person has started Pathways or employment more than once in each year, then their first spell is counted each year.  3. A person is counted only once in each year, though they may appear in several years. As a result, the total number of individuals which have participated in Pathways since its inception cannot be derived by adding the number of individuals which have participated each year.  Source:  DWP Jobcentre Plus and Provider-led databases

Pension Protection Fund: East of England

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) Essex and  (b) the East of England have received Pension Protection Fund payments in each year since the fund's inception; and what the average size of payment was in each year.

Angela Eagle: The information is not available in the form requested. However, such information as is available is as follows:
	455 people in the East of England are currently receiving compensation from the Pension Protection Fund. Two people from the region were receiving such compensation in May 2007 and 111 people in June 2008.
	The national average annual payment of compensation is currently around £3,700; a regional breakdown of this figure is not available.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of assuming that any income earned from savings for the purposes of pensioners' eligibility for  (a) pension credit,  (b) housing benefit and  (c) council tax benefit is one per cent. higher than the Bank of England base rate (i) beyond and (ii) instead of existing capital disregards.

Angela Eagle: The following table shows the estimated cost of assuming different illustrative Bank of England rates of around 1 per cent. and 5 per cent. (averaged over a year), with and without the £6,000 capital disregard.
	
		
			  Estimated cost of tariff income set at approximately 1 per cent. higher than Bank of England base rate for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit (2009-10 prices) 
			  Rate applied to income above the disregard  (i) Cost keeping current disregard (£ million)  (ii) Cost removing current disregard (£ million) 
			 2 per cent. 350 240 
			 6 per cent. 170 110 
			  Notes: 1. These estimates have been calculated using the Policy Simulation Model (PSM) which uses data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). Estimates are subject to sampling and modelling uncertainty. 2. Income taken into account is rounded up to the next £1. 3. In column (i) the interest rate is applied to capital above the capital disregard. 4. Estimates do not include the cost of applying the rules to those in care/nursing homes. 5. Costs have been calculated against the current £6,000 threshold and not against the revised threshold of £10,000 that will apply from November 2009. 6. Costs have been rounded to the nearest £10 million.

Pensions Service: Incentives

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Pensions Service in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The information available is in the following table
	
		
			  Amount paid in bonuses for 2007-08 and 2008-09 
			  Bonuses (£) 
			  The Pension Service( 1)  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Directors 86,200 (2)— 
			 Senior managers 334,404 (2)— 
			 Specialist and delivery managers 592,836 313,510 
			 Executive support and administration staff 3,212,325 1,816,466 
			 (1) The Pension Service ceased to exist from 1 April 2008, when it merged with the Disability and Carers Service to form the Pension, Disability and Carers Service (PDCS). The figures entered for 2008-09 therefore represent bonuses paid to ex-The Pension Service staff who are now working within PDCS and broadly carrying out the same roles as in 2007-08. (2) There is not a directly comparable figure for Directors and Senior Managers in the new organisation, whose roles span the whole new agency.  Source: Resource Management (RM) System—Payroll

Pensions: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) the City of York local authority area and  (b) City of York constituency are in receipt of (i) the basic state pension and (ii) pension credit; and what the average weekly value of pension credit received is in each case.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			   People in receipt of the basic state pension  Households in receipt of pension credit  Average weekly amount of pension credit (£) 
			 York local authority 36,900 6,680 45.41 
			 City of York parliamentary constituency 18,700 4,350 46.39 
			  Notes:  1. Numbers in receipt of basic state pension rounded to the nearest hundred.  2. The number of households in receipt are rounded to the nearest 10.  3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data and DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample data.

Poverty: Parents

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her most recent assessment is of levels of poverty among working parents who are not eligible for tax credits.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The child tax credit is a single, inclusive system of support for all families with children with an income up to £58,000. Families with a child aged under 16, or a young person aged 16-19 and in qualifying work, education or training, are eligible. Around nine out of 10 families with children are entitled to the child tax credit, there is little or no risk of poverty for families with incomes above the income threshold.

Self-Employed: Government Assistance

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how the self employment support available under the six month offer will differ from that offered under the New Deal for Self Employment;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the number of people she expects to support into self-employment under the six month offer in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and  (c) 2011-12;
	(3)  whether a last trading period will be available to a person receiving self-employment support as part of the six month offer;
	(4)  how much funding has been assigned to the self-employment support to be made available under the six month offer in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and  (c) 2011-12.

Jim Knight: The self-employment element of the six month offer was introduced on 6 April 2009 and provides substantial advice and support to enable people to move into self-employment or to start their own business. There is an active programme of intensive support delivered by Business Link in England by Flexible Support for Business in Wales and by Business Gateway and Training for Work in Scotland. Those moving into self-employment will be entitled to a self-employment credit made up of 16 weekly payments of £50 to help with the transition into work and to underpin finances for the first few months of the business.
	There is no new deal for the self-employed although both the new deal for young people and the new deal 25-plus include options offering self-employment support. Under flexible new deal providers will also be able to provide self employment support. The new deal and six month offer routes into self employment are broadly similar. Both offer intensive support and advice to those who need it. To ease the transition into sustainable self-employment the new deals give customers an opportunity to undertake a period of test-trading for up to 26 weeks. Test trading enables the customer to begin work while remaining on benefits, whereas under the six month offer the self-employment credit is payable.
	We have anticipated the six month offer providing 500,000 opportunities for jobseekers and have made an investment in the offer of £0.5 billion. On current estimates we expect to be able to provide self employment support to 135,000 people.
	The offers are voluntary and are therefore demand led. The overall package is designed to be flexible and respond to customer needs. It is also possible that for any individual customer, a mix of offers may be appropriate.

Social Fund

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress her Department has made in its review of the Social Fund since the publication in November 2008 of its consultation document, The Social Fund: a new approach.

Helen Goodman: The Government's response to the consultation document 'The Social Fund: A New Approach—Response Document' was published on the Department for Work and Pensions' website in February 2009. A copy has been placed in the Library. It can be downloaded from:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2008/sf-new-approach-response.pdf
	We anticipate that a further consultation document focused on the longer-term reform of the Social Fund will be published later this year.

Social Security Benefits

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of claims for  (a) budgeting loans,  (b) crisis loans,  (c) community care grants,  (d) jobseeker's allowance,  (e) incapacity benefit/employment and support allowance,  (f) income support and  (g) pension credit were processed within the target actual average clearance time in the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years for which information is available;
	(2)  what the average clearance time for claims for  (a) budgeting loans,  (b) crisis loans,  (c) community care grants,  (d) jobseeker's allowance,  (e) incapacity benefit/employment and support allowance,  (f) income support and (g) pension credit was in cases where the claim was longer than the average clearance time in each of the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years.

Jim Knight: The Jobcentre Plus target for processing jobseeker's allowance, income support and incapacity benefit claims is an average actual clearance time. Not all cases will be processed within the target for that benefit for a variety of reasons, but a calculation based on the average time taken across all claims processed within any given month is used as a measure of overall performance. As a result the Department's computer systems do not gather data in the way it has been requested.
	The average actual clearance time information for budgeting loan, crisis loan and community care grant applications that are processed outside of the standard is not available.
	Detailed information on clearance times for receipt of employment and support allowance is not available at the present time.
	Employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit for new claims from 27 October 2008. The latest quarterly data available are November 2008. More comprehensive figures are expected to be available when the February 2009 publication is produced in August 2009.
	The available information has been placed in the Library.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people have received their health checks for invalidity benefits in each month since the introduction of the current health checks scheme; how many people were planned to receive such checks but have not; how long it is expected to take to provide checks to such people; and what the cost of doing so will be;
	(2)  how many people have come off each type of invalidity benefit in each month since the new system of health checks came into effect; and how many people remain on each benefit.

Jonathan R Shaw: The employment and support allowance was introduced in October 2008 and has replaced incapacity benefits for new customers. Alongside the employment and support allowance we have introduced a new more robust medical assessment—the work capability assessment, which focuses on what people can do, as well as what they cannot. The number of face-to-face medical assessments for all incapacity benefits completed by Atos Healthcare during each month is as follows:
	
		
			  Month  Assessments 
			 October 2008 55,487 
			 November 2008 52,352 
			 December 2008 45,904 
			 January 2009 53,050 
			 February 2009 49,453 
			 March 2009 68,051 
			 April 2009 63,315 
			 May 2009 64,106 
			 June 2009 66,575 
			 Total 518,293 
		
	
	The number of medical assessments undertaken was, until recently, below the number of cases coming in for assessment, but action has been taken which will by the summer raise these to a level that will clear the accumulated backlog. No additional payments will be made to clear overdue work capability assessments. The prices paid for assessments remain confidential.
	As at November 2008, there were 2,593,010 incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claimants in Great Britain and, based on provisional figures, an additional 51,000 claimants of employment and support allowance.
	Figures for the number of claimants moving off incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance are only available for November 2008, one month after the work capability assessment was introduced. Figures for the number of claimants moving off employment and support allowance are not yet available but are expected to be released later this summer.

Social Security Benefits: Mental Health

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of people in receipt of incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance had their capability for work assessed as limited by mental ill-health in each year since 1997.

Jonathan R Shaw: The number of people claiming incapacity benefit has fallen in recent years. The number of people claiming for physical conditions has fallen significantly as a result of Government programmes to get more people who are able to work back into suitable employment. The number of people claiming incapacity benefit for mental health conditions has remained broadly unchanged over the last few years.
	The Government are developing more action to help those with mental health conditions get back into work including a new Mental Health and Employment strategy due to be published in the autumn and the Perkins review on how we help people with mental health conditions back into work.
	We have replaced the old system of incapacity benefits with the more work-focused employment and support allowance to engage with people more actively and to ensure they are aware of opportunities available.
	The essential rule for entitlement to either incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance does not depend on an individual's diagnosis or condition, but on the effect that condition, or a combination of conditions, has on each individual's mental and physical function.
	Information for employment and support allowance is not yet available. Information for incapacity benefit is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of IB claimants with mental and behavioural disorders as main disabling condition, November 1997 to 2008 
			  As at November each year:  All conditions (Number)  Mental and behavioural disorders (Number)  Physical and other conditions (Number)  Percentage of incapacity benefit claimants with mental and behavioural disorders 
			 1997 2,837,540 768,850 2,068,600 27.1 
			 1998 2,767,606 805,530 1,962,100 29.1 
			 1999 2,738,130 847,920 1,890,210 32.1 
			 2000 2,764,140 902,590 1,861,550 33.7 
			 2001 2,787,710 952,160 1,835,550 35.2 
			 2002 2,818,480 1,005,750 1,812,730 37.1 
			 2003 2,822,270 1,048,920 1,773,350 38.6 
			 2004 2,814,410 1,082,450 1,731,960 40.1 
			 2005 2,752,900 1,085,920 1,666,980 41.1 
			 2006 2,714,950 1,102,550 1,612,400 42.5 
			 2007 2,683,750 1,115,790 1,567,960 43.6 
			 2008 2,593,010 1,092,110 1,500,900 44.2 
			  Notes: 1. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10(th) Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. 2. To qualify for incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance, claimants must undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work called the personal capability assessment. Therefore, the medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer benefit entitlement. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 4. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place. 5. Figures for 1997 and 1998 have been derived by applying 5 per cent. proportions to 100 per cent. WPLS totals.  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 5 per cent. and 100 per cent. data. 
		
	
	There is no clear evidence for the increase in mental illness as the main disabling condition. Informed suggestions for the increase are multi-factorial and include:
	(i) Better diagnosis—particularly of behavioural conditions such as autism;
	(ii) Less stigma—more people are willing to talk about the mental health issues affecting them;
	(iii) Better treatment of physical conditions—particularly musculo-skeletal conditions; and
	(iv) The changing nature of business—work intensity.
	The Government believe that, with the right help and support, many more people with a mental health condition or disability can achieve independent and fulfilling lives, including through employment.
	We have successfully introduced the more work-focused employment and support allowance for new customers, engaging with people more actively and ensuring they are aware of support and opportunities available. Pathways to Work, including the condition management programme, is available to everyone receiving incapacity benefits and employment and support allowance in Great Britain. Evidence on its effectiveness for customers with mental health conditions is mainly positive. A study of existing customers found that the employment impact for customers with mental health conditions was higher than for those without.
	We have also committed to ensuring that the personalised support delivered through Pathways to Work is as co-ordinated as possible with the increase in mental health treatment provision delivered through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme in England, and similar programmes in Scotland and Wales.
	From December, we will pilot an occupational health helpline for employers, especially small and micro businesses, to help them to manage and support people who have mental health conditions to remain in or return to work.

State Retirement Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the average weekly payment of the basic state pension for  (a) men and  (b) women in (i) 2010, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2030, (iv) 2040 and (v) 2050; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Average weekly amounts of the basic state pension, Great Britain 
			  £ 
			   2010  2020  2030  2040  2050 
			  Cash  
			 Men 93 141 219 346 558 
			 Women 80 127 211 348 563 
			   
			  Real terms (2008-09 prices)  
			 Men 88 101 119 141 172 
			 Women 76 91 115 142 173 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £1. 2. Forecasts of basic state pension average amounts in 2010-11 are based on the Budget 2009 forecasts. Basic state pension average amounts from 2020-21 onwards are based on the latest published long-term projections which were published Budget 2008. 3. The real terms figures are calculated from the Budget 2008 GDP deflator.  Source:  Budget 2009 forecasts and Budget 2008 long-term projections.

State Retirement Pensions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of the 25p age addition; when the size of the addition was last reviewed; how much it would be if it had been uprated in line with  (a) prices and  (b) earnings since its introduction; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: There are currently 2.7 million people in receipt of 25p age addition. The 25p weekly age addition was introduced in 1971 for those pensioners over the age of 80. This amount has not been uprated by successive governments.
	 (a) Uprating the 25p age addition by prices since 1971 would make it worth £2.90 in 2009-10.
	 (b) Uprating the 25p age addition by earnings since 1971 would make it worth £4.91 in 2009-10.

Unemployment Benefits: Lone Parents

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to page 11 of the Explanatory Memorandum to the Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008, if she will update her estimate of the number of lone parents projected to be on out of work benefits.

Helen Goodman: The estimates of the number of lone parents projected to be on out of work benefits were based on the best available data and were sensitive to the particular assumptions used. The information necessary to revise these estimates is not available as the latest data does not yet reflect the impact of lone parent obligations on the number of lone parents on out of work benefits.

Unemployment: Young People

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations her Department has received on youth unemployment; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of youth unemployment in  (a) England,  (b) the North West,  (c) Merseyside and  (d) Cheshire.

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations her Department has received on youth unemployment; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce youth unemployment in  (a) Hemel Hempstead,  (b) Hertfordshire,  (c) the South of England and  (d) England.

Jim Knight: The Department receives representations on youth unemployment from a wide range of people.
	The Department is committed to giving everyone the support they need to find employment as quickly as possible, whatever their age.
	On 6 April 2009, as part of the Government's response to the economic downturn, the Department for Work and Pensions put in place extra support for newly unemployed customers, including information and advice about the latest job search techniques and coaching on how to make the most of transferable skills. Extra help for those who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months was also introduced, including opportunities to volunteer, support to become self-employed, recruitment subsidies and work-focused training.
	Since last autumn, the Department has also quadrupled the available funding for the Rapid Response Service, which provides advice and support to customers facing redundancy. It has extended Local Employment Partnerships, the Adviser Discretion Fund and Access to Work so they are available to customers from the first day of their claim, alongside the support they receive from their Jobcentre Plus personal adviser.
	The introduction of the Flexible New Deal across Phase 1 areas from this October will give providers the freedom to offer personalised, tailored support to everyone who has been claiming jobseeker's allowance for twelve months, helping them overcome their individual barriers to work. It is expected that Flexible New Deal will be introduced in Phase 2 areas from October 2010.
	This will be available to jobseeker's allowance customers of all ages, throughout England, Scotland and Wales, to ensure that everyone has the best possible chance of finding work.
	Furthermore, from next year all customers aged 18-24 who are approaching 12 months of their claim to jobseeker's allowance will have access to the Young Person's Guarantee. This will offer the following from January 2010:
	A new job created through the Future Jobs Fund;
	Support to move into an existing job in a key employment sector;
	Work-focused training; or
	A work experience place through the Community Task Force.
	Some elements of the guarantee will be available sooner. In October of this year the first jobs created by the Future Jobs Fund will be available Training to enter key employment sectors will be available in the autumn.

Young Person's Guarantee

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what funding arrangements have been put in place to enable her Department to transfer the Young Persons' Guarantee from a discretionary to mandatory basis; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will estimate the likely cost to her Department of making the Young Persons' Guarantee mandatory.

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when she plans to make the young persons guarantee mandatory.

Jim Knight: The 2009 Budget made £1.1 billion available to deliver the Future Jobs Fund and Young Person's Guarantee. Together they will create new jobs in areas of high unemployment and provide a guaranteed job, work placement or training place for the minority of young people aged between 18 and 24 who reach 12 months unemployment. From next year young people will be required to accept one of the guaranteed offers. This will be met from within the existing funding and there will be no additional costs.

Young Person's Guarantee

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many places the Government plans to provide under  (a) the Future Jobs Fund,  (b) support to take an existing job in a key employment sector,  (c) work-focused training places and  (d) places on a community task force to fulfil the Young Person's Guarantee in the period January 2010 to March 2011.

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many  (a) jobs from the Future Jobs Fund,  (b) training places,  (c) community task force places and  (d) offers of support to take an existing job in a key employment sector will be provided in order to deliver the Young Persons' Guarantee in 2009-10;
	(2)  how many  (a) jobs under the Future Jobs Fund,  (b) training places,  (c) community task force places and  (d) offers of support to take an existing job in a key employment sector are required to enable the change in the Young Persons' Guarantee from a voluntary to a mandatory programme.

Jim Knight: The Future Jobs Fund aims to create 150,000 new jobs. Of this total, at least 100,000 will be created for young people. The remaining 50,000 will be allocated to unemployment hot spots—in these areas all individuals approaching 12 months or more on out of work benefits will be eligible for a Future Jobs Fund job.
	We expect the work-focused training offer to support around 80,000 young people, including pre-employment training. The Community Task Force element of the offer will see young people participating in work placements to deliver real help to their community. This element is responsive to demand. In addition, Jobcentre Plus will work with growth sectors to help up to 100,000 young people access existing jobs in key employment sectors.
	The Young Persons Guarantee will provide jobs and training opportunities to meet the terms of the guarantee in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	DWP does not forecast unemployment among young people, however, systems are in place to ensure that the Government will deliver on their commitment to provide sufficient jobs, training or community task force places to meet demand when the Young Person's Guarantee becomes mandatory.

Departmental Procurement

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what progress the Government Olympic Executive has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes.

Tessa Jowell: The Government Olympic Executive (GOE) is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport—reporting to me through the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. GOE procurement will therefore be included in the answer provided by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Business: Government Assistance

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what support his Department is providing to businesses during the economic downturn.

Ian Pearson: The Government have introduced a range of measures to support cash flow, credit and investment, to help businesses get through the recession.
	This includes HMRC's Business Payment Support Service, which has allowed businesses to spread £3 billion of tax payments over a longer, timetable, and a temporary extension of the time that businesses can claim tax relief for trading losses from one to three years (for losses up to £50,000). Capital allowances have also been increased temporarily, meaning that all firms investing more than £50,000 this year will benefit from higher tax relief. In addition, the small companies rate of corporation tax will not increase this year and the threshold at which empty property becomes liable for business rates has been temporarily increased.
	On 14 January 2009 the Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, announced a package of measures including:
	The Working Capital Scheme, which guarantees banks' portfolios of existing loans to businesses with turnover up to £500 million. Over £1 billion of guarantees have now been issued under this scheme;
	The Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme, securing up to £1.3 billion of additional bank loans to small firms with a turnover of up to £25 million. Over 3,600 businesses have been offered loans totalling over £364.33 million;
	A £75 million Capital for Enterprise Fund (£50 million from Government augmented by £25 million from the banks) to invest in small businesses which need equity; and
	A Trade Credit Insurance Scheme to top-up cover if insurers reduce credit limits.

Child Benefit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many nationals of each A8 country were receiving child benefit for a child or children living in another EEA member state at the end of June 2009; and in respect of how many such children child benefit was being paid on that date.

Stephen Timms: Around 7.5 million families are currently claiming child benefit for around 13 million children. Out of that total, at the end of June 2009, there were 25:494 ongoing child benefit awards to A8 nationals recorded as receiving child benefit for 41,740 children living in another EEA member state. These awards are made by virtue of EC social security co-ordinating regulations which the UK has administered since it joined the European Economic Community in 1973.
	The estimated breakdown by nationality is as follows.
	
		
			  Country  Number of awards at 30 June 2009  Number of children included in awards 
			 Czech Republic 158 267 
			 Estonia 16 28 
			 Hungary 69 112 
			 Latvia 252 330 
			 Lithuania 721 1057 
			 Poland 22,805 37,433 
			 Slovakia 1,470 2,508 
			 Slovenia 3 5 
			 Total 25,494 41,740

Departmental Press

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what  (a) newspapers and  (b) periodicals are delivered to the private office of each Minister in his Department; and at what cost in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The following list shows the newspapers and periodicals provided for Treasury Ministers in May 2009 at a cost of £923.39.
	 The Sun
	 Financial Times
	 Daily Telegraph
	 The Observer
	 Daily Record
	 The Economist
	 The New Statesman
	 Daily Mail
	 The Times
	 The Independent
	 Evening Standard
	 The Scotsman
	 Business Week
	 Daily Mirror
	 The Guardian
	 Daily Express
	 Herald International
	 Glasgow Herald
	 Private Eye

Drinking Water

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much his Department spent on water coolers in each of the last six months;
	(2)  how much his Department spent on bottled water in each of the last six months.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: For information on spending on bottled water, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the former Exchequer Secretary (Kitty Ussher) on 11 June 2009,  Official Report, column 979W. The cost of water coolers for the 2008-09 financial year was £2,224, equating to £185 per calendar month.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2009,  Official Report, column 420W, on Equitable Life, and the Oral Statement of 15 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 377-80, if he will publish the estimate his Department made of the length of time it would take to make compensation payments as recommended by the Ombudsman; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Government are committed to delivering justice to the policyholders of Equitable Life and to delivering an ex-gratia payments scheme that corrects the injustices which have been accepted by Government. It accepts that speed is of the essence for establishing a payments scheme.
	Sir John Chadwick has been commissioned by Government to provide advice on matters arising from its response to the ombudsman's report and findings of maladministration resulting from injustice that the Government have accepted. The Government would of course consider Sir John's advice once it is published and make ex-gratia payments to policyholders as it decides appropriate.
	It is important that Sir John progresses with urgency, but that he also provides the right advice, especially in light of the enormous amount of information Sir John must go through.
	I have today issued a written ministerial statement updating the House on the progress of Sir John's work. Both the Government and Sir John have committed to providing regular updates on progress.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2009,  Official Report, column 858W, on Equitable Life: compensation, when he expects the ex-gratia payment scheme for older people who have lost money with Equitable Life to commence; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Government are committed to delivering justice to the policyholders of Equitable Life and to delivering an ex-gratia payments scheme that corrects the injustices which have been accepted by Government.
	It has commissioned Sir John Chadwick to review available information and consider a number of issues in relation to determining relative losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders, and their impact. Sir John's work will inform the establishment of an ex-gratia payments scheme.
	Sir John is very aware of the need to reach a conclusion on this matter. It is important that he progresses his work with urgency, but that he also provides the right advice, especially in light of the enormous amounts of information that he must go through.
	I have today issued a written ministerial statement updating the House on the progress of Sir John's work. Both the Government and Sir John have committed to providing regular updates on progress.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's long-term plans are for the compensation of those identified by the Parliamentary Ombudsman as having lost money with Equitable Life as a result of failure of the regulatory process.

Liam Byrne: The Government are committed to delivering justice to the policyholders of Equitable Life and to delivering an ex-gratia payments scheme that corrects the injustices which have been accepted by Government.
	It has commissioned Sir John Chadwick to provide advice on matters arising from its response to the ombudsman's report and findings of maladministration resulting from injustice which the Government have accepted. The Government would make careful consideration of Sir John's advice once it is published and make ex-gratia payments to policyholders as it decides appropriate.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what  (a) financial and  (b) other assistance his Department is providing to pensioners in Coventry who have lost money with Equitable Life.

Liam Byrne: The Government are committed to delivering justice to the policyholders of Equitable Life and to delivering an ex-gratia payments scheme that corrects the injustices which have been accepted by Government.
	It has commissioned Sir John Chadwick to review available information and consider a number of issues in relation to determining relative losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders, and their impact. His work will inform the establishment of an ex-gratia payments scheme.
	Both Sir John and the Government are very aware of the need to reach a conclusion on this matter and work is being progressed with expediency, but at this stage it is not possible to identify the nature of specific assistance that will be provided to specific groups of policyholders.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department has taken in respect of those resident in Coventry who have lost money with Equitable Life.

Liam Byrne: The Government are committed to delivering justice to the policyholders of Equitable Life and to delivering an ex-gratia payments scheme that corrects the injustices which have been accepted by Government.
	It has commissioned Sir John Chadwick to review available information and consider a number of issues in relation to determining relative losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders, and their impact. His work will inform the establishment of an ex-gratia payments scheme.
	Both Sir John and the Government are very aware of the need to reach a conclusion on this matter and work is being progressed with expediency, but at this stage it is not possible to identify the nature of specific assistance that will be provided to specific groups of policyholders.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Pensioners

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the number of pensioners who have lost money in Equitable Life.

Liam Byrne: The Government have commissioned Sir John Chadwick to review available information and consider a number of issues in relation to determining relative losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders, and their impact.
	Sir John is progressing his work with expediency and today, a written ministerial statement has been published outlining his progress.
	On the issue of the number of pensioners who have lost money with Equitable Life, Government are awaiting Sir John Chadwick's advice to inform its view on this matter.

Government Departments: Aviation

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2009,  Official Report, column 985W, on Government departments: aviation, what the estimated expenditure on domestic flights is of each year of the Government Air Programme contract.

Ian Pearson: Historic data suggests that 22 per cent. of the air spend relates to domestic flights. Using the estimated £69.6 million per annum applying to the Government air programme this would equate to an estimated £15.3 million per annum.

Public Expenditure

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial transfers are being made from the budget of each other Government department to the Department for Communities and Local Government to fund the housing expenditure announced in the 2009 Draft Legislative Programme; and what programmes in each department are having reductions in their funding to meet that expenditure.

Liam Byrne: The departmental contributions towards the housing expenditure announced in the 2009 draft legislative programme will come from a mixture of reprioritisation, efficient programme management and anticipated underspends. Up to £930 million will be contributed from the following sources:
	£350 million from the Department for Transport;
	£100 million from the Department for Children, Schools and Families;
	£90 million from the Home Office;
	£50 million from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills;
	£340 million of anticipated capital underspends in the Department of Health, Department for Children, Schools and Families, and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	The remaining £586 million will be provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Revenue and Customs: Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) administration assistants,  (b) assistant officers,  (c) officers,  (d) higher officers,  (e) senior officers,  (f) fast stream trainees,  (g) Grade 7 employees,  (h) Grade 6 employees and  (i) senior civil servants in each HM Revenue and Customs office in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: Information on bonuses paid by job role in not available.
	In 2007-08 bonus payments were made to top performers and good performers on the pay band range maximum, as they had received a lower consolidated pay award.
	In 2008-09 bonuses were paid only to top performers. The amounts paid out by HMRC were as follows:
	
		
			   Total bonus paid (rounded to nearest £000)  Staff in post 
			   2007-08  2008-09  April 2008  April 2009 
			 Admin Assistant 1,423,000 467,000 12,640 11,005 
			 Admin Officer 4,500,000 1,736,000 37,187 37,113 
			 Officer 4,764,000 2,421,000 22,164 21,591 
			 Higher Officer 3,013,000 1,830,000 10,501 10,410 
			 Senior Officer 1,603,000 1,096,000 3,919 4,089 
			 Fast Stream 77,000 46,000 617 491 
			 Grade 7 830,000 754,000 2,387 2,556 
			 Grade 6 633,000 653,000 1,153 1,213 
			 Senior Civil Service 2,213,000 2,552,000 393 407 
			 Total 19,056,000 11,555,000 90,961 88,875 
		
	
	Providing details of bonuses paid split by grade and by office could jeopardise staff confidentiality. The small number of staff in some of the local offices means that when the bonus figures are combined with post numbers it is possible to identify individual bonus payments.
	We have provided a split of total bonus payments by office for the years above. This detail has been deposited in the Library of the House. For confidentiality reasons, total bonuses for those offices with less than 20 staff have not been included.
	HMRC does not hold the required data for earlier years in an easily accessible format and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

VAT: Tax Rates and Bands

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of postponing the reversion of the rate of value added tax to 17.5 per cent. until after the January 2010 sales period.

Stephen Timms: The Government recognise that changing the rate at this time will be challenging for some businesses and have considered the representations businesses have made very carefully. The decision to reconfirm the 1 January reversion date that was announced last November has not been taken lightly. We have had to balance the needs of the economy as a whole against the challenges for businesses. Deferring the change by a month, as some have suggested, would have cost a further £800 million.
	By confirming the date for the end of the rate change in Finance Bill, businesses have a long lead time over which to plan for the change. HMRC will continue to talk to businesses with a view to identifying satisfactory arrangements for any particularly awkward cases.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on offsetting its carbon dioxide emissions in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has participated in stage one of the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF) from 2006 to meet a Prime Ministerial commitment to offset ministerial and official air travel.
	GCOF works by requiring individual Government Departments to provide payments to offset relevant emissions.
	Payments to GCOF by the NIO, including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland, and excluding its agencies and NDPBs in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2008-09 6,447.91 
			 2007-08 6,338.83 
			 2006-07 11,384.56 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2004-05 0

Departmental Furniture

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on furniture in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Expenditure on furniture in the last five years by the Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its Agencies and Executive NDPBs is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2004-05 200,540 
			 2005-06 188,670 
			 2006-07 325,440 
			 2007-08 339,774 
			 2008-09 233,359 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Office procures furniture across a number of sites which are mainly located in Belfast and London. This furniture is required to facilitate staff in providing a quality service and the expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Operating Costs

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the running costs associated with his Department's Northern Ireland Information Service in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The following table shows the running costs associated with the Northern Ireland Information Service in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   Running costs (£) 
			 2008-09 2,264,937 
			 2007-08 1,580,513 
			 2006-07 2,337,542 
			 2005-06 1,771,136 
			 2004-05 2,117,072

Departmental Travel

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on tickets for  (a) air and  (b) rail travel for (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department which were not used in each of the last three years.

Shaun Woodward: Details of rail and flight costs for 2008-09 are set out in the following tables. Information for earlier years could be gathered only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Travel costs 2008-09 
			  £ 
			   Rail  Flight 
			 Ministers 0 287.87 
			 Special advisers 0 0 
			 Staff 42.00 7,392.22 
		
	
	Where practical, staff in my Department book fully flexible and refundable tickets so as to reduce the cost of travel that is unavoidably cancelled.

Political Directorate: Operating Costs

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the running costs associated with his Department's political directorate in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The following table shows how much the Political Directorate of the Northern Ireland office has spent in running costs in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   Running costs (£) 
			 2008-09 11,404,448 
			 2007-08 6,136,998 
			 2006-07 6,852,184 
			 2005-06 7,214,155 
			 2004-05 6,838,692 
		
	
	The Political Directorate provides parliamentary and private office support to Ministers as well as policy support for the Northern Ireland political process and other issues including elections, human rights and public inquiries. In preparation for the completion of devolution, the directorate, which will form the core of the future NIO, has also taken management responsibility for relevant corporate services, hence the increase in expenditure in 2008-09.

Single Parents: Custodial Sentences

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent consideration he has given to the effects on dependent children of custodial sentences for single parents.

Maria Eagle: We have a significant programme of work across Government to meet the needs of offenders' children, many of whom are vulnerable, including:
	through the Think Family programme, ensuring key services are supporting them; and
	our plans to reduce the number of women in prison and provide additional community services, through £15.6 million of new funding.

Employment Tribunals

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of procedures for the enforcement of employment tribunal awards; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The tribunals service recently undertook research into the enforcement of employment tribunal awards. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Jack Straw) made a statement on the 19 May 2009 announcing the publication of this research and the measures that the Government are taking to improve the enforcement of these awards.

Prison Officers

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the ratio of prison officers to prisoners was at HM Prison Wymott and HM Prison Garth in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: As at 31 May 2009, the ratio of prison officers to prisoners at HMP Wymott was 1:5.04. The ratio at HMP Garth was 1:3.4.
	This ratio refers to basic prison officer grades only—senior officer and principal officers are not included.

Complaints: Budgets

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the  (a) resource and  (b) capital budget of the Office for Legal Complaints is for 2009-10.

Bridget Prentice: The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) was formed on 1 July 2009 and will not be fully operational until 2010 and so financial plans are still in the process of being finalised. The resource budget for the OLC in 2009-10 currently stands at £6 million and capital budget is £0 million. However, these figures will be reviewed for the winter estimates. The OLC is in the process of finalising its business plan, which will provide further clarity over the capital and resource split for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 years. However, the implementation and running costs for the OLC will be recovered through a levy on the legal profession.

Anti-terrorism Control Orders

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse has been of each legal action in respect of which proceedings have been completed in which a person subject to a control order has challenged its terms.

Bridget Prentice: Legal aid funding is available under the Community Legal Service (CLS) administered by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). According to records supplied by the LSC, 24 certificates have been granted to challenge the terms of control orders made under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. Of these, only nine cases have concluded and the total amounts paid under each certificate is as follows.
	£201,416
	£7,910
	£14,486
	£84,434
	£6,118
	£6,817
	£7,642
	£11,025
	£12,271
	These figures include solicitors' costs, counsels' fees, disbursements and VAT, where applicable. Costs in some of these cases may include costs of appeal proceedings up to and including appeals to the House of Lords. Costs of judicial reviews are not included, as these cannot be separately identified.
	It is not possible to identify the court costs to Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS) as the administrative costs for these proceedings are not recorded separately from the costs of other proceedings.
	The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on how much it costs the state to defend challenges made to the terms of a control order.

Aviation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many convictions there were for endangering the safety of an aircraft in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many offenders received a  (a) fine,  (b) community penalty and  (c) custodial sentence upon conviction for endangering the safety of an aircraft in 2008; and what the average (i) fine and (ii) custodial sentence imposed in such cases was.

Jack Straw: The number of defendants found guilty at all courts in England and Wales for endangering the safety of an aircraft, 1998 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in table 1.
	Sentencing statistics for 2008 are not available until later in the year therefore data for 2007 is shown in table 2.
	The statistics given relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. For example, when a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of defendants found guilty at all courts in England and Wales for offences relating to the endangerment of aircraft, from 1998 to 2007( 1, 2) 
			  Statue/offence  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Statutes—Aviation Security Act 1982: 7 10 8 3 9 1 1 1 0 0 
			 Section 1: Seizing an aircraft in flight by unlawful use of force or threats by person on board the aircraft   
			 Section 2: Destroying, damaging or endangering safety of aircraft   
			 Section 3: Other acts of endangering or likely to endanger safety of aircraft   
			 Section 6: Inducing or assisting in the commission of an offence outside the UK   
			
			  Statutes: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 4 3 1 6 
			 Air Navigation Order 2000 Articles 63 and 122(6) and schedule 12(C)   
			 Air Navigation Order 2005 Articles 73 and 148(7) and Schedule 14(C)   
			 Recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or any person therein   
			 n/a = Not applicable. (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform: Evidence and Analysis Unit. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Offenders sentenced for endangering safety of an aircraft( 1) , 2007 
			   Number 
			 Fine(2) 2 
			 Community sentence 1 
			 Suspended sentence 1 
			 Immediate custody(3) 2 
			 Total sentenced 6 
			 (1) Air Navigation Order 2005: Endangering safety of aircraft. (2) One fine of £100 and one of £150 (3) One immediate custodial sentence of 8.0 months and one of 12.0 months.  Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 2. These data are presented on the principal offence basis. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence, the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences, the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

Consultants

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Office for Criminal Justice Reform spent on  (a) external consultants,  (b) public opinion research and  (c) communications in the last year for which information is available.

Jack Straw: In 2008-09, OCJR spent £14.7 million on external consultants, including specialists working on the development of cross CJS information technology and cross CJS projects, £1.9 million on public opinion research, of which, £1.4 million is for the Witness and Victims Experience Survey (WAVES) of the criminal justice system used to underpin the public service agreement; and £2.3 million on communications including staff costs, the costs of the CJS online website, Inside Justice week and the costs of corporate publications and leaflets.

Crime Act 2002

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the monetary value was of defence costs orders arising from cases determined by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009 to date.

Bridget Prentice: Data is not currently collected on the volume of Recovery of Defence Costs Orders (RDCOs) made in respect of cases under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. This level of information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Legal Services Commission does collect data on the overall number and monetary value of RDCOs made and this detail is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of RDCOs made  Value of RDCOs made (£ million) 
			 2006-07 330 4.2 
			 2007-08 220 6.0 
		
	
	The figures are not yet available for 2008-09.

Departmental Consultants

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much  (a) his Department and its predecessor and  (b) its agencies spent on consultants in each year since 1997.

Jack Straw: The information requested is as follows.
	 Consultants
	The Ministry of Justice was formed on the 9 May 2007. This merger included the former Department of Constitutional Affairs and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). NOMS previously formed part of the Home Office. The following information is fragmented due to Machinery of Government and organisational changes. The Ministry of Justice do not hold data in relation to the National Offender Management (NOMS) for years prior to the Machinery of Government in 2007-08. For this reason, NOMS consultancy costs, prior to 2007-08 cannot be provided in this answer.
	While it appears possible to get detail of consultancy spend for the whole Home Office before the Machinery of Government change on 9 May 2007, it is not possible to get the spend relating to just those sections that are now part of the Ministry of Justice as these figures are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	 (a) Subject to the above, the Department and its predecessors spent the following amounts on consultancy in each accounting year:
	
		
			  Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 2007-08 to 2008-09 
			  Accounting year  £  m illion 
			 2008-09 (1)53.6 
			 2007-08 56.0 
			 (1 )Provisional. This figure was an early estimate and has been extrapolated based on the nine month actual position. The 2008-09 consultancy figure will be finalised following a manual data collection exercise for April 2008 to March 2009. This exercise is scheduled to commence in the summer of 2009, with a target date for availability on 31 October 2009.  Note: The figures between 2007-08 and 2008-09 are based on spend provided from the Department's systems. These figures do not include the Office of the Public Guardian. 
		
	
	
		
			  Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) 2003-04 to 2006-07 
			  Accounting year  £  m illion 
			 2006-07 10.7 
			 2005-06 15.5 
			 2004-05 10.6 
			 2003-04 9.0 
		
	
	
		
			  The Lord Chancellors Department (LCD) 1997-08 to 2002-03 
			  Accounting year  £ million 
			 2002-03 5.7 
			 2001-02 6.5 
		
	
	Due to the organisation reshuffle of the former Lord Chancellor's Department, figures prior to 2001-02 are unavailable and can be obtained only via disproportionate costs.
	 (b) The figures above can be broken down into spend by individual agencies as follows:
	 Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 2008-09
	A breakdown of MOJ consultancy costs by agency(1) for 2008-09 is not yet available. A manual data collection exercise for the period April 2008 to March 2009 is scheduled to commence in the summer of 2009 with a target date for the availability of the full data set on 31 October 2009.
	(1) The 2008-09 breakdown will highlight the Ministry of Justice, National Offender Management Services and HM Prison Services spend only. Lower level breakdown of the 2008-09 data by agency can be obtained only via disproportionate costs.
	
		
			  Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 2007-08 
			   £ million 
			 Ministry of Justice 36.0 
			 National Offender Management Services and HM Prison Services 20.0 
			 Total 56.0 
		
	
	Lower level breakdown of the 2007-08 data by agency can be obtained only via disproportionate costs.
	
		
			  Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) 2003-04 to 2006-07 
			  £ million 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 Department of Constitutional Affairs 10.1 6.6 
			 HM Court Service 5.0 3.3 
			 Tribunals Service 0.4 0.6 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 0.05 0.2 
			 Total 15.5 10.7 
		
	
	Between 2003-04 and 2004-05 a breakdown of DCA's (formally LCD's) consultancy costs by agencies can be obtained only via disproportionate costs.
	 Lord Chancellors Office (LCD) 1997-08 to 2002-03
	Between 2001-02 and 2002-03 a breakdown of LCD's consultancy costs by agencies can be obtained only via disproportionate costs.

Departmental Dismissal

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many members of staff at each pay band in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been suspended (i) on full pay and (ii) on sick pay for (A) over 12 months, (B) between six and 12 months and (C) between three and six months, broken down by pay band.

Jack Straw: For the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) excluding the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the number of staff currently suspended on full pay is 20, see table.
	
		
			  Length of suspension 
			  Pay band  Over 12 months  Between 6 and 12 months  Between 3 and 6 months  Up to three months  Total 
			 A — — — — — 
			 B — — 1 — 1 
			 C — — — — — 
			 D — — 1 5 6 
			 E — — 3 9 12 
			 F — — — 1 1 
			 Total — — 5 15 20 
		
	
	For those staff on sick pay the information is not held centrally in a format that would enable us to answer this part of the question without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The National Offender Management Service does not hold any of the detailed information centrally in a format that would enable us to answer this question without incurring disproportionate cost. I have given instructions that this information must in future be collected.

Employment Tribunals Service

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many actions under employment law have been brought against his Department in each of the last three years; how many such actions were brought under each category of action; and how many such actions were contested by his Department at an employment tribunal.

Jack Straw: The data is only held centrally for the two years since the creation of the Ministry of Justice. To obtain the data now for the year 2006-07 would incur disproportionate costs.
	In each of the last two years, the following numbers of claims were issued at the Employment Tribunal against the Ministry of Justice:
	
		
			   Number of claims 
			  2007-08  
			 Total Claims issued 306 
			 Age Discrimination 19 
			 Disability Discrimination 41 
			 Equal Pay 58 
			 Maternity Leave Pay 1 
			 Non-standard Casework 1 
			 Pension Rights 2 
			 Race Discrimination 16 
			 Sexual Discrimination 35 
			 Sexual Orientation Discrimination 1 
			 Terms of Employment 3 
			 Trade Union Activity 3 
			 TUPE 1 
			 Unfair/Constructive Dismissal 91 
			 Wages Claim 28 
			 Whistleblowing 4 
			 Working Time Regulations 2 
			   
			  2008-09  
			 Total Claims issued 215 
			 Age Discrimination 5 
			 Disability Discrimination 34 
			 Equal Pay 3 
			 Maternity Leave Pay 1 
			 Non-standard Casework 4 
			 Other 5 
			 Race Discrimination 13 
			 Sexual Discrimination 27 
			 Sexual Orientation Discrimination 1 
			 Terms of Employment 8 
			 Trade Union Activity 4 
			 Unfair/Constructive Dismissal 88 
			 Wages Claim 20 
			 Working Time Regulations 2 
		
	
	In 2007-08 the MoJ employed 78,789 people and in 2008-09, 81,402.
	All of these claims were defended by the Ministry at the initial stage in the process, although some were subsequently settled. The outcome of these Employment Tribunals for 2007-08 and 2008-09 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   MoJ Won  MoJ Lost  Settled  Outstanding  Total 
			  2007-08  
			 Age Discrimination 6 0 3 10 19 
			 Disability Discrimination 16 0 11 14 41 
			 Equal Pay 2 0 0 (1)56 58 
			 Maternity Leave Pay 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Non-Standard Casework 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Pension Rights 2 0 0 0 2 
			 Race Discrimination 10 1 0 5 16 
			 Sexual Discrimination 11 1 7 16 35 
			 Sexual Orientation Discrimination 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Terms of Employment 0 0 0 3 3 
			 Trade Union Activity 3 0 0 0 3 
			 TUPE 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Unfair/Constructive Dismissal 38 2 25 26 91 
			 Wages Claim 10 1 10 7 28 
			 Whistleblowing 0 1 1 2 4 
			 Working Time Regulations 0 0 1 1 2 
			 Total 99 6 61 140 306 
			   
			  2008-09  
			 Age Discrimination 0 0 0 5 5 
			 Disability Discrimination 5 0 4 25 34 
			 Equal Pay 0 0 0 3 3 
			 Maternity Leave Pay 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Non-Standard Casework 0 0 1 3 4 
			 Other 1 0 1 3 5 
			 Pension Rights 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Race Discrimination 4 0 2 7 13 
			 Sexual Discrimination 3 0 4 20 27 
			 Sexual Orientation Discrimination 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Terms of Employment 1 0 0 7 8 
			 Trade Union Activity 2 0 0 2 4 
			 TUPE 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Unfair/Constructive Dismissal 18 0 9 61 88 
			 Wages Claim 7 0 3 10 20 
			 Whistleblowing 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Working Time Regulations 0 0 1 1 2 
			 Total 41 0 25 149 215 
			 (1) 19 of these cases showing as outstanding have actually been finalised, but the outcomes have not yet been updated. The results are awaited from the Treasury Solicitor. 
		
	
	The data for the number of cases contested at an Employment Tribunal hearing are not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain them.

Information Tribunal

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what legal costs were incurred by the Information Commissioner in respect of the Information Tribunal hearing in relation to the request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by Mr. Martin Sixsmith.

Michael Wills: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the independent authority which enforces compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
	The total cost to the ICO for counsel in the recent Information Tribunal case "Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government v IC" was £7,606.38. In addition, considerable time was spent on the case by the ICO's own in-house solicitors.
	This information was provided by the ICO.

Legal Aid

Eleanor Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on the administration of legal aid in each of the last 12 years.

Bridget Prentice: The Legal Services Commission's (LSC) administration expenditure in each of the last 12 years is shown in the table. The costs to the courts for administering the grant and payment of legal aid is not recorded separately.
	
		
			  Total LSC administration expenditure 
			   £ million 
			 1996-97 53.8 
			 1997-98 57.5 
			 1998-99 59.9 
			 1999-2000 62.4 
			 2000-01 72.4 
			 2001-02 71.6 
			 2002-03 73.4 
			 2003-04 90.2 
			 2004-05 102.7 
			 2005-06 96.8 
			 2006-07 114.4 
			 2007-08 132.5

Legal Aid: Foreigners

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what expenditure his Department has incurred on legal aid payments to foreign nationals involved in cases before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in each of the last seven years.

Jack Straw: The Legal Services Commission did not specifically collate costs data on SIAC expenditure prior to the 7 July 2005 terrorist incidents in London.
	Expenditure in subsequent financial years, and from April 2009 to June 2009 was as follows:
	
		
			   £000 
			 2006-07 385 
			 2007-08 731 
			 2008-09 889 
			 2009-10 154

Magistrates Courts: Costs

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many magistrates clerks were employed in each of the last three years; and how much was spent on employing them in each such year.

Jack Straw: The title "Magistrates' Clerk" is a historic title and no longer used in magistrates court. Justice clerks and legal advisers fulfil the roles closest to that of a magistrates clerk, although the role is not directly comparable and both fulfil different functions. I provide in the tables the requested figures for both justice clerks and legal advisers.
	
		
			  Legal advisers 
			   2006-07( 1)  2007-08  2008-09 
			  Region  FTE( 2)  Salary cost (£)  FTE  Salary cost (£)  FTE  Salary cost (£) 
			 North West 277.2 13,207,859 283.4 14,195,555 283.5 15,101,933 
			 Midlands — — 322.3 16,555,657 316.5 17,183,678 
			 Wales 66.2 2,898,648 119.6 5,012,338 115 4,600,768 
			 North East 292 14,494,319 292 14,965,814 288 15,147,267 
			 South West 203.4 9,526,406 200.9 9,702,375 200.9 10,355,665 
		
	
	
		
			  Justices' clerk 
			   2006- 07( 1)  2007-08  2008-09 
			  Region  FTE  Salary cost(£)  FTE  Salary cost (£)  FTE  Salary cost(£) 
			 North West 5 514,298 3 324,820 3 341,916 
			 Midlands — — 15 1,585,578 11 1,412,1 10 
			 Wales 3 316,120 8 818,324 5 518,588 
			 North East 10 992,912 9.5 972,075 7 744,408 
			 South West 10 1,051,987 10 1,095,269 6.2 719,574 
		
	
	It has not been possible to provide exact staff numbers or the breakdown in salary costs for legal advisers and justice clerks for London and the South East region. Further work is taking place to extract this information from local data. I will write to the hon. Member with this information when this has been completed. The following table shows the combined salary costs for legal advisers and justice clerks in London and the South East.
	
		
			  Salary cost (£) 
			  Region  2006-07( 1)  2007-08  2008-09 
			 London — 17,089,462 17,449,073 
			 South East — 18,223,171 17,892,698 
		
	
	(1) Historical pay data are not held on the HR information system in HMCS and due to a change in accounting procedures brought in across HMCS on 1 April 2007 some regions have not been able to provide this information for 2006-07 from their records.
	(2) Staff numbers are quoted as full-time equivalent in post.

Mass Media

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much his Department and its predecessors spent on  (a) commissioning of public opinion research and  (b) contracts with press monitoring services in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the cost of contracts between his Department's  (a) agencies and  (b) non-departmental public bodies' and press monitoring services was in each of the last five years.

Jack Straw: Details of the available information on expenditure on public opinion research and organisations providing media monitoring services in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and its predecessor are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Table 1: Public opinion research 
			   £ 
			  Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA)  
			 2004-05 1,410,000 
			 2005-06 1,654,000 
			 2006-07 219,000 
			   
			  Ministry of Justice (created in May 2007)  
			 2007-08 3,086,000 
			 2008-09 2,945,000 
			  Note: Figures shown are estimates including VAT and are based on a collation of local returns as no central records are available. They include NDPBs. 
		
	
	The reason for the fluctuation of spend reflects a smaller research programme in 2006-07. The figures in 2007-08 and 2008-09 for the Ministry of Justice reflect the inclusion of Public Opinion Research for the Office of Criminal Justice Reform and National Offender Management Service.
	
		
			  Table 2: Press monitoring 
			   Press cuttings (£) 
			  Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA)  
			 2003-04 50,344.00 
			 2004-05 48,641.00 
			 2005-06 59,606.61 
			 2006-07 20,548.55 
			   
			  Ministry of Justice (created in May 2007)  
			 2007-08 56,662.93 
		
	
	The reason for the fluctuation in spend between 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 is due to a revision of the cuttings specification. For 2006-07 the specification was significantly narrowed and this resulted in fewer cuttings being charged to the Department. However, due to the creation of the Ministry of Justice in May 2007, the cuttings specification was widened to cover the additional subjects covered by the new Ministry and an increase in national and regional press.
	The following figures are for costs of press monitoring services for the Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). The Ministry of Justice was created in May 2007. Figures before this relate to expenditure under previous Departments.
	 Executive Agencies :
	 National Offender Management service (NOMS)
	The cost of press monitoring for NOMS from May 2007 is incorporated in the MoJ cost. Press monitoring costs for NOMS prior to May 2007 were paid by the Home Office.
	 Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS)
	Created in April 2005. Since 2005, HMCS press monitoring services have been part of DCA/MoJ contracts.
	 Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)
	The Office of the Public Guardian formed on 1 October 2007, replacing the Public Guardianship Office.
	
		
			  Office of the Public Guardian 
			   Durrants (press cuttings service) (£) 
			 2006-07 6,118.70 
			 2007-08 7,118.74 
		
	
	 Tribunals Service
	The Tribunals Service was created in April 2006, as an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. The Press Association and Meltwater News provide the Tribunals Service with press monitoring services. To date they have paid in total £6,564.63 to PA; and £4,136 to Meltwater News.
	 National Archives
	The National Archives is a non-ministerial department and executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. The finance documents pre-2006 are kept off-site in a repository in Cheshire, and it would incur disproportionate cost to recover them. Following figures are provided for 2006 onwards.
	
		
			  National Archives 
			  £ 
			   Cision (media management)  Cision (clippings and media monitoring)  Meltwater News  Total 
			 2006-07 23,446.00 220.00 0.00 23,666.00 
			 2007-08 11,660.00 13,169.00 5,288.00 24,829.00 
		
	
	 NDPBs :
	 Boundary Commission—England
	No spend.
	 Boundary Commission—Wales Office
	No spend.
	 Her Majesty's Land Registry (HMLR)
	
		
			  Her Majesty's Land Registry (HMLR) 
			   Durrants (press cuttings service) (£) 
			 2003-04 13,175.31 
			 2004-05 15,052.92 
			 2005-06 19,537.24 
			 2006-07 28,751.35 
			 2007-08 28,035.64 
		
	
	 Legal Services Commission (LSC)
	
		
			  Legal Services Commission (LSC) 
			   Durrants (press cuttings service) (£) 
			 2003-04 0.00 
			 2004-05 13,333.47 
			 2005-06 24,038.20 
			 2006-07 24,170.03 
			 2007-08 27,159.00 
		
	
	The costs for the Legal Services Commission and Her Majesty's Land Registry increased primarily because there was more media relevant to their work which needed to be monitored. For Her Majesty's Land Registry, a key case of this was the launch in October 2006 of the monthly House Price Index.
	 Judicial Appointments Commission
	The JAC does not hold its own contracts with press monitoring services; instead they are served by the Judicial Communications Office contract.
	Press monitoring services include clippings of newspaper articles, compiled on a daily basis, that are relevant to the Department. The Government's Central Office of Information's Media Monitoring Unit provides a press summary service for the Department, but also includes broadcast coverage in these summaries. It is not possible to breakdown the cost of MMU summaries between press monitoring and monitoring of other media. It is important to monitor the climate of opinion and the evolving views of commentators and the media to ensure that policy development takes place in the fullest context and the Department is well placed to respond to events. Press and media monitoring is one way to do this and also provides useful instant feedback on announcements.

National Offender Management Service: Finance

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much of the projected £30 million savings from the Specification, Benchmarking and Costing (SBC) Programme are expected to be made by  (a) the Probation Service and  (b) the Prison Service; and what the SBC expenditure reduction targets are for each service.

Maria Eagle: The Specification, Benchmarking and Costing (SBC) Programme is targeted to deliver more than £50 million of savings during 2009-10. The target for probation is £21 million and prisons £32 million. The probation savings will be achieved through the work of the SBC programme but also supported by the Probation Trust Programme and the introduction of best value.
	Further savings are anticipated in future years from the SBC programme and work is currently ongoing to define and quantify the potential costs, benefits and impact.

National Offender Management Service: Finance

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much of the projected £117 million savings for the National Offender Management Service is expected to be made by  (a) the Probation Service,  (b) the Prison Service and  (c) National Offender Management Service headquarters.

Maria Eagle: The National Offender Management Service has plans in place to achieve savings of £171 million in 2009-10. The savings will be realised through a range of programmes and initiatives to ensure that offender management is delivered effectively and efficiently.
	A broad description of the savings is given in the table.
	
		
			  Initiative  Description  Planned saving 2009-10 (£ million) 
			 Specification, Benchmarking and Costing Programme (prisons) Achieving better value for money by reducing unnecessary variation in service provisions in prisons 32 
			 Regional and National HQ structures Streamlining and restructuring 20 
			 Specification, Benchmarking and Costing Programme (probation) Achieving better value for money by reducing unnecessary variation in service provisions in probation 21 
			 Spending Plan Adjustments Adjustments to spending plans to take account of reducing inflation and lower VAT 12 
			 Management reductions and delayering Reforms to workforce structures for new uniformed staff and reducing management costs in public prisons. 16 
			 Other Savings Including, greater efficiency in the Capacity Programme; further procurement improvement; a reduction in non-essential maintenance; prison clustering; modernising staff rostering processes and restructuring training services 70 
			 Total  171

National Probation Service for England and Wales: Manpower

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average ratio of  (a) probation staff to offenders and  (b) offender managers to offenders was in each probation service area in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is shown in the following table for the years 2004 to 2007 inclusive. Reliable offender caseload data by probation service area is not available prior to 2004.
	
		
			  (a) The average ratio of probation staff to offenders, by each probation service area in England and Wales at 31 December in each year from 2004-07 
			  Area  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 8.1 7.8 8.1 9.4 
			 Bedfordshire 13.8 12.0 10.7 11.5 
			 Cambridgeshire 10.2 10.9 11.2 12.8 
			 Cheshire 8.0 8.7 10.0 10.2 
			 Cumbria 11.2 9.9 9.5 10.9 
			 Derbyshire 10.7 10.6 10.7 10.8 
			 Devon and Cornwall 8.4 7.9 8.0 7.8 
			 Dorset 7.8 7.9 9.1 9.2 
			 Durham 7.8 8.0 8.8 10.0 
			 Dyfed Powys 8.7 8.1 6.9 8.1 
			 Essex 10.8 10.7 12.6 14.2 
			 Gloucestershire 9.0 9.4 9.4 10.2 
			 Gwent 10.6 9.5 9.6 10.1 
			 Hampshire 10.5 10.1 10.3 10.6 
			 Hertfordshire 12.9 13.1 13.1 12.3 
			 Humberside 8.5 8.3 8.9 9.9 
			 Kent 10.1 9.9 11.0 12.2 
			 Lancashire 10.1 11.1 12.7 13.6 
			 Leicestershire 7.8 7.9 8.3 8.2 
			 Lincolnshire 8.9 8.2 8.0 8.3 
			 London 14.2 16.3 14.5 15.7 
			 Greater Manchester 11.0 11.2 11.5 13.1 
			 Merseyside 11.9 13.2 13.8 13.3 
			 Norfolk 9.6 8.6 8.6 8.8 
			 North Wales 9.4 9.9 11.0 12.4 
			 North Yorkshire 8.7 10.1 10.0 9.2 
			 Northamptonshire 10.4 10.0 9.0 10.2 
			 Northumbria 8.5 8.9 9.9 10.6 
			 Nottinghamshire 11.3 10.2 9.3 10.2 
			 South Wales 11.0 10.3 10.2 10.6 
			 South Yorkshire 9.6 9.7 10.3 10.6 
			 Staffordshire 9.0 9.2 9.8 10.0 
			 Suffolk 8.1 8.4 8.6 9.3 
			 Surrey 7.0 6.8 7.6 7.5 
			 Sussex 13.2 11.2 11.8 14.6 
			 Teesside 11.2 10.3 11.3 11.5 
			 Thames Valley 8.8 9.5 10.3 10.7 
			 Warwickshire 8.8 8.1 9.3 10.5 
			 West Mercia 9.0 10.0 9.7 9.9 
			 West Midlands 14.7 13.5 13.2 13.1 
			 West Yorkshire 10.2 10.6 10.5 10.5 
			 Wiltshire 10.1 8.7 9.2 9.1 
			 Total 10.7 10.9 11.0 11.6 
			  Note: Figures provided are full-time equivalent 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) The average ratio of offender managers to offenders, by each probation service area in England and Wales at 31 December in each year from 2004-07 
			  Area  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 26.0 24.8 23.0 25.7 
			 Bedfordshire 41.1 35.3 32.7 32.1 
			 Cambridgeshire 29.0 33.2 32.5 35.3 
			 Cheshire 24.3 26.2 29.2 32.5 
			 Cumbria 33.5 29.7 26.3 29.5 
			 Derbyshire 34.0 32.3 30.9 32.1 
			 Devon and Cornwall 25.3 23.6 23.9 22.7 
			 Dorset 24.7 23.6 27.1 29.9 
			 Durham 23.3 23.8 24.7 27.3 
			 Dyfed Powys 26.3 24.1 26.7 29.5 
			 Essex 39.1 42.2 48.8 54.9 
			 Gloucestershire 26.9 28.8 32.9 37.6 
			 Gwent 36.9 37.4 29.2 27.5 
			 Hampshire 28.7 29.9 32.0 33.6 
			 Hertfordshire 39.6 40.8 47.6 40.2 
			 Humberside 25.6 24.6 24.0 27.0 
			 Kent 31.6 30.4 34.2 35.5 
			 Lancashire 24.0 25.3 27.9 31.1 
			 Leicestershire 25.1 24.2 25.6 26.4 
			 Lincolnshire 31.9 28.0 27.1 26.8 
			 London 40.7 50.7 47.6 48.2 
			 Greater Manchester 35.6 38.8 33.8 37.0 
			 Merseyside 34.5 36.6 38.3 33.7 
			 Norfolk 28.7 28.1 31.3 30.3 
			 North Wales 26.6 27.5 31.4 34.7 
			 North Yorkshire 22.4 25.0 26.3 28.2 
			 Northamptonshire 33.1 33.7 26.3 29.5 
			 Northumbria 21.4 21.0 23.1 26.1 
			 Nottinghamshire 33.4 33.2 30.1 33.3 
			 South Wales 31.6 29.7 30.1 30.5 
			 South Yorkshire 29.6 28.2 29.3 29.6 
			 Staffordshire 24.6 24.1 24.9 26.2 
			 Suffolk 20.3 21.8 23.7 23.3 
			 Surrey 25.3 25.7 28.2 24.7 
			 Sussex 37.3 30.7 33.2 40.5 
			 Teesside 39.8 32.7 33.9 32.5 
			 Thames Valley 30.6 32.6 35.3 35.1 
			 Warwickshire 27.8 23.8 29.2 33.1 
			 West Mercia 23.8 25.9 25.2 27.3 
			 West Midlands 41.0 36.7 37.0 40.4 
			 West Yorkshire 31.4 30.6 29.4 30.1 
			 Wiltshire 34.1 27.7 28.3 33.2 
			 National Average 31.8 32.5 32.6 34.1 
			  Note: Figures provided are full-time equivalent and include senior probation officers, probation officers, senior practitioners and practice development assessors

Office of the Public Guardian

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the  (a) resource budget,  (b) capital budget,  (c) fee income and  (d) amount of public funding is for the Office of the Public Guardian in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11.

Bridget Prentice: Information about Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)(1) funding is contained in the following table. Prior to April 2009 the OPG provided the administration for the Court of Protection, whereas the administration is now provided by HM Courts Service.
	
		
			  £000 
			   2008-09 Spring supplementary estimate( 1)  2009-10 Main estimat e( 1)  2010-11 Indicative( 2) 
			 Resource DEL 1,100 (2,310) (2,310) 
			 Resource Budget 21,600 23,670 23,670 
			 Capital Budget 500 1,500 419 
			 Fee Income (20,500) (25,980) (25,980) 
			 Public Funding Resource(3) 2,000 2,600 3,000 
			 Public Funding Capital 0 0 0 
			 (1) These figures also include the costs of the Court of Protection for each year. The financial planning process to incorporate the budgetary transfers which are predicated on the organisational changes for the Court of protection is not complete; the figures therefore reflect the OPG and CP as one entity. (2) These figures have been taken from the Ministry of Justice's Departmental Annual Report 2008-09 and also include Court of Protection. (3) The public resource funding is due to remissions and exemptions.

Political Parties and Elections Bill

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what timetable he anticipates for the commencement of each substantive element of the Political Parties and Elections Bill following Royal Ascent.

Jack Straw: The commencement of the provisions of the Political Parties and Elections Bill, which I introduced to this House on 17 July 2008, will depend on its progress through its final stages in Parliament and the date upon which it receives Royal Assent.
	Provisions which are proposed to commence automatically on Royal Assent are listed under clause 41(3). The remaining provisions shall be commenced by order at a time to be determined by me.
	[1] restricting pre-candidacy election expenses will not be commenced until restrictions on the use of the communications allowance have been agreed by the House: "the two matters were linked—one depends on the other" (9 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1221-23). As my hon. Friend, the Deputy Leader of the House (Barbara Keeley), made clear in a written answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 20 July 2009,  Official Report, column 800W, the Leader of the House hopes to bring forward the necessary amendments shortly after the summer adjournment.

Public Opinion: Ministry of Justice

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent by his Department on  (a) focus groups and  (b) opinion polling in 2008-09.

Jack Straw: The information requested on expenditure is not held centrally, however a search of local records has identified a number of projects undertaken in the 2008-09 financial year. Based on these returns the Ministry of Justice Department (not including NDPBs) spent around £647,000 including VAT on focus groups, and £247,000 including VAT on opinion polls.
	 Note:
	The figures given are based on local returns and do not separately identify the elements of projects that were specifically focus groups or opinion polls This figure does not include wider market and opinion research that extends beyond opinion polling and focus groups.

Reoffenders: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the re-offending rate of people in each age group in the Essex probation area was in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The local re-offending figures are produced by aggregating the data of four snapshots of the probation caseload at the end of each quarter. Therefore the number of offenders quoted in the following table is approximately four times the number of offenders on the caseload at any one time.
	The most recent re-offending rates for Essex are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Local re-offending rates for Essex, 1 January—31 December 2008 
			   Number of offenders  Actual re-offending rate (percentage) 
			 Essex probation area 20,217 8.17 
		
	
	The local re-offending rate is not broken down by age band.
	Local adult re-offending rates by probation area or local authority are not available for periods prior to 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008.
	Further details on local adult re-offending are available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/local-adult-reoffending-2008-ii.pdf

Victim Support Schemes

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been distributed from the Victims Fund on 2008-09; and which groups received money from the fund for the provision of services to victims of hate crime or homicide in that year.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 20 July 2009
	I have been asked to reply.
	The Government distributed a total of £277,618.08 from the Victims Fund between 13 groups for the provision of services to victims of hate crime or homicide for the period 2008-09. £1.25 million was allocated to victims of sexual violence.
	£109,976 was distributed for the provision of services to victims of homicide to five groups and they were as follows:
	Support After Murder and Manslaughter (Merseyside)—awarded £20,450
	National Victims Association—awarded £30,985
	Child Bereavement Charity—awarded £20,887
	Victims of Crime Trust—awarded £17,700
	Victim Support (Bedfordshire)—awarded £19,954.08
	£167,642 was distributed for the provision of services to victims of hate crime to eight groups and they were as follows:
	Voice UK—awarded £34,900
	Greenwich Action Committee Against Racist Attacks—awarded £19,920
	Kirklees Metropolitan Council—awarded £15,000
	Gender Identity Research and Education Society—awarded £4,750
	North Herts People First—£53,180
	Victim Support Teesside—£4,130
	Greater Manchester Police, Bury Division—£15,762
	West Yorkshire Police—£20,000

Young Offenders

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many under 18 year olds have been  (a) prosecuted and  (b) convicted for (i) sexual offences, (ii) robbery, (iii) criminal damage, (iv) drug offences and (v) violent offences in each year since 1999.

Jack Straw: The number of persons aged 10 to 17 who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for the requested offence groups in England and Wales, for the years 1999 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	The Sexual Offences Act 2003 significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales to provide extra protection to children from sexual exploitation. This makes direct comparisons with previous legislation very difficult. Many new offences created by the Act will not have a direct equivalent under the old legislation.
	These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Number of persons aged 10 to 17 who were proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for selected indictable offences( 1) , England and Wales 1999 to 2007( 2, 3) 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			   Sexual Offences( 4,)( )( 5)  Robbery( 6)  Criminal Damage( 7)  Drug Offences( 8)  Violence against the Person( 9)  Sexual Offences( 4, 5)  Robbery( 6)  Criminal Damage( 7)  Drug Offences( 8)  Violence against the Person( 9) 
			 1999 916 4,107 4,235 3,823 10,898 489 2,044 2,691 3,113 5,982 
			 2000(10) 929 5,309 4,104 4,390 11,777 463 2,213 2,527 3,696 6,253 
			 2001 1,120 6,688 4,841 5,312 13,154 511 2,792 2,897 4,341 6,910 
			 2002 1,208 6,618 4,795 5,954 12,392 557 2,807 2,910 4,957 6,871 
			 2003 1,073 5,546 4,770 6,003 11,999 448 2,641 2,948 5,145 6,579 
			 2004 1,237 5,666 4,632 5,125 11,314 587 2,964 3,233 4,478 6,906 
			 2005 1,146 5,809 4,434 5,214 11,168 554 3,079 3,268 4,628 7,428 
			 2006 987 6,418 4,742 4,977 11,052 492 3,701 3,669 4,455 7,520 
			 2007 1,009 6,808 4,623 5,855 10,738 543 4,115 3,627 5,264 7,679 
			 (1 )Includes Indictable and triable-either way offences, 'Indictable only' are the most serious breaches of the criminal law and must be dealt with at the Crown court. Triable-either-way offences may be tried at either the Crown court or at magistrates courts. The offence groups do not include summary offences. (2 )The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4 )Sexual Offences includes data for the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which came into force on 1 May 2004. (5) Sexual Offences offence type includes the following offence classes: Buggery Sexual Assault on a Male Indecency between Males Rape of a Female Rape of a Male Sexual Assault on a Female Sexual Activity with child under 13 Sexual Activity with child under 16 Familial Sexual Offences (Incest) Exploitation of Prostitution Abduction 
			 Bigamy Soliciting of women by Men Sexual activity etc. with a person with a mental disorder Abuse of children through prostitution and pornography Trafficking for sexual exploitation Abuse of trust—sexual offences Gross Indecency with Children Miscellaneous sexual offences (6) Robbery offence type includes the following offence class: Robbery (7) Criminal Damage offence type includes the following offence classes: Arson Criminal Damage Endangering Life Other Criminal Damage Threat etc., to commit Criminal Damage  (8) Drug offences includes the following offence classes: Unlawful importation—Class A Unlawful importation—Class B Unlawful importation—Class C Unlawful importation—Class unspecified Unlawful exportation—Class A Unlawful exportation—Class B Unlawful exportation—Class C Unlawful exportation—Class Unspecified Production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug—Class A Production—Class B Production—Class C Production—Class unspecified Possession of a controlled drug—Class A Possession—Class B Possession—Class C Possession—Class unspecified Other drug offences (9) Violence against the person offence type includes the following offence classes: Murder Attempted Murder Threat or Conspiracy to Murder Manslaughter Infanticide Child Destruction Causing Death by Dangerous Driving Manslaughter Due to Diminished Responsibility Causing Death by Careless Driving when under the influence of Drink or Drugs Causing Death of a child or vulnerable person Wounding or other act Endangering Life Endangering Railway Passenger Endangering Life at Sea Malicious Wounding etc. Cruelty to or Neglect of Children Abandoning Child aged under Two Years Child Abduction Procuring Illegal Abortion Concealment of Birth Causing Death by Aggravated Vehicle Taking (10) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source: OCJR—E and A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

Young Offenders

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect of the costs of  (a) national and regional management and administration,  (b) premises,  (c) insurance,  (d) staff pensions,  (e) depreciation,  (f) land,  (g) capital and  (h) other central expenditure on his estimate of the average annual cost of providing a custodial place for a young offender.

Maria Eagle: The overall average resource cost per place of a young offender institution in 2007-08 (the latest year for which figures are available) was:
	Direct net expenditure met locally at establishments: £32,799
	Other net expenditure met centrally by the Prison Service: 14,960
	(HMPS)and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
	Total overall average resource cost per place: £47,759
	The direct resource expenditure met locally at each establishment is as reported in the Annual Report and Accounts of HMPS 2007-08. Resource expenditure met centrally by HMPS and NOMS includes for example: national and regional management and administration, major maintenance, depreciation and cost of capital of land and buildings, and prisoner escort service. This involves some estimation. Income from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) in respect of services recharged to the YJB is excluded in order to show the overall cost to the Ministry of Justice, as is any spend by other Government Departments (e.g. for health and education). Capital expenditure is not included.

Building Schools for the Future Programme

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent progress his Department has made on its objective of bringing secondary school buildings up to 21st century standards; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: In the three years to 2010-11, we are investing £21.9 billion in our schools estate: a record amount and seven times the rate in 1997. This includes £9.3 billion for Building Schools for the Future, our strategic programme to provide world-class teaching and learning environments for all secondary school pupils, teachers and communities in England. 85 local authorities and about a third of all secondary schools are now engaged in the BSF programme. This includes the six new projects which were announced on 15 July to enter the programme this month. They will be followed by six more starts in the next quarter and six more in the quarter after that.
	Almost 90 schools have now benefited from BSF investment across England. We have also opened 133 academies, around half of which have brand new facilities, and we are well on our way to our target of 400 academies. In addition, schools and local authorities can invest their own funding to improve schools; secondary schools across the country share over £350 million of devolved formula capital grant in 2009-10. We are currently collecting information on the impact of our investment across the school estate and will publish our findings in due course.

Building Schools for the Future Programme: Birmingham

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made on Building Schools for the Future projects  (a) in progress and  (b) planned in Birmingham; and what projects have been completed in Birmingham.

Vernon Coaker: Birmingham is making good progress in Building Schools for the Future (BSF). It has a large programme with around 80 schools to deliver in total.
	With regards to projects in progress—the five sample schools in Birmingham's Wave 2 BSF project (which consists of 11 schools and eight academies in total) are due to start construction on or before financial close has been reached. This is scheduled to take place before the end of August 2009. The first schools in this wave are scheduled to open at the start of 2011.
	A further 14 schools will be delivered through Birmingham's Wave 5 BSF project. This project is progressing well, with the local authority currently finalising its education strategy. The first schools in this wave are currently scheduled to start construction at the end of 2010 and open in 2012.
	Birmingham also has a number of follow-on projects which are not yet active in BSF. These projects will deliver the remaining schools in the local authority. No BSF projects have yet been completed in Birmingham.

Building Schools for the Future Programme: Finance

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of the funding to be allocated to the Building Schools for the Future programme for  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Vernon Coaker: Resources from comprehensive spending review 2007 provided £9.3 billion for the building schools for the future and academies programmes for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. This was made up of £3.7 billion PFI credits, and £5.6 billion of capital grant. £1.1 billion of capital grant was spent in 2008-09, with the balance to be allocated over the remaining two years, the timing of which will depend on the achievement of project milestones.

Children in Care

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of meeting the legal requirements associated with placing a child in care in the latest period for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: Loughborough university has conducted research into the costs of providing children's services. This work calculated that the costs to children's services of obtaining a court order at 2006/07 prices were £2,765.
	The fees (in current prices) charged by the courts for obtaining a care order are as follows. There are three stages to these fees with costs varying depending on which stage is reached in proceedings.
	1. On an application for a care or supervision order under Section 31 of the Children Act 1989: £2,225
	2. Where an issues resolution hearing or pre-hearing review has been listed: £700
	3. Where a final hearing has been listed: £1,900.
	In response to the recommendation about court fees set out in Lord Laming's report 'The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report', the Ministry of Justice has appointed Francis Plowden to conduct a review of court fees, and to establish whether or not the level of court fees act as a deterrent when local authorities decide whether or not to commence care proceedings. Francis Plowden is expected to present his findings to the Lord Chancellor and to the Secretary of State for Justice by mid September 2009.

Children: Exercise

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding the Government has allocated to encourage children in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point to adopt more active lifestyles in each year since 1992.

Diana Johnson: The Government do not allocate discrete funding for this purpose on an area basis and it is not possible to provide an answer in the format requested.
	Encouraging all children and young people to adopt a more active lifestyle is a priority for this Government. Our strategic approach to this is set out in 'Be Active, Be Healthy', 'Healthy lives, brighter futures: the strategy for children and young people's Health' and 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: a Cross-Government Strategy for England'.
	These strategies support the Chief Medical Officer's recommendation that children and young people should achieve a total of at least 60 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity each day, and at least twice a week this should include activities to improve bone health, muscle strength and flexibility.
	Individuals can achieve this level of activity through a variety of routes, including everyday activity, such as walking or cycling, active recreation, such as play, dance, or swimming, and through sport, both for competition and for individual exercise. The role of parents and carers in influencing children's activity levels is crucial, so the Government support initiatives to improve family based activity as well as a range of initiatives in children's settings, all of which are available to children and young people in Castle Point and Essex.
	Initiatives which focus on supporting children and their families to be physically active include:
	the Change4Life social marketing campaign, backed by £75 million of funding over three years to 2011, promotes an 'eat well, move more, live longer' message to families with children aged five to 11. Since its launch in January 2009, over 255,000 families have contacted Change4Life and received tailored materials on physical activity and healthy eating as a result;
	Sure Start Children's Centres, which should engage parents to promote a whole-family approach to eating well and keeping active, and organise and promote physical activities;
	the universal, NHS-delivered Healthy Child Programme for ages 0 to five supports parents in keeping their children healthy, and focuses on developing and maintaining healthy nutritional and lifestyle habits from a very early age;
	the Play Strategy, through which 3,500 new or refurbished play areas and 30 staffed adventure playgrounds are being delivered, aimed at eight to 13-year-olds, with a focus on disadvantaged areas. Details of funding for play schemes in Essex and Castle Point were given in answer to a previous question (Commons written question 282065);
	nearly 60 per cent. of local authorities have promised to provide free swimming for the under 16s and have opted-in to the Free Swimming Programme which the Government are supporting with £140 million over the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.
	Initiatives which are delivered through early years settings, schools and colleges include:
	the PE and School Sport for Young People strategy, through which 90 per cent. of pupils aged five to 16 now participate in at least two hours a week of high quality PE and school sport. The strategy also aims to ensure that all five to 19-year-olds have the opportunity for an additional three hours of sport a week outside the school day;
	the National Healthy Schools Programme: almost every school in the country has achieved, or is working towards, Healthy School status, which sets national standards for health and well-being around four core themes, including physical activity;
	schools offering access to Extended Services offer access to a wide range of services from 8 am to 6 pm, 48 weeks a year. The services include play, recreation and sports, and community access to facilities including adult learning and sports facilities;
	the £140 million joint DCSF and DFT Travel to School Initiative promotes walking and cycling: 17,392 (69 per cent.) of schools have active travel plans worth around £5,000 for a typical primary and around £10,000 for a typical secondary school;
	the Bikeability scheme aims to train 500,000 children to level 2 by 2010. Over 146,000 have already received training;
	since September 2008, sports co-ordinators have been appointed in 358 FE colleges, so almost all FE colleges have a co-ordinator in place.

Children: Protection

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how he plans to monitor the effectiveness of the provisions of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 in protecting vulnerable young people under the age of eight.

Dawn Primarolo: Once we phase in registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), there will be duties to check registration, and penalties for non-compliance. If, for example, a person permits staff to look after children under the age of eight in a crèche, it will be an offence if that person does not check that the staff are ISA-registered, or uses staff who are not ISA-registered, or knowingly uses staff who are barred from working with children. If anyone suspects that a person is committing such an offence, they should report it to the police.

Children: Protection

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to improve child protection services in Castle Point.

Dawn Primarolo: Ofsted's 2008 Joint Area Review of Essex County Council's children's services judged services for safeguarding and looked after children to be inadequate. Essex County Council's 2008 Annual Performance Assessment included an inadequate judgment for the Every Child Matters outcome "staying safe ". The Government subsequently issued the Council with an Improvement Notice setting measurable targets that must be met within twelve months. External experts have been appointed to carry out a review of policies and procedures relating to child protection, children in need and looked after children and to undertake an audit of a broad sample of individual cases. Experts have also been appointed to undertake a review of the Local Safeguarding Children Board and to sit on the Government Office chaired Improvement Board to provide additional external scrutiny and challenge of progress in Essex.
	The Government have made clear its determination to make sure that child protection services in every area meet the needs of the vulnerable children they serve. That is why we asked Lord Laming to prepare an urgent report of progress across the country in implementing effective arrangements for safeguarding children. The Government have accepted all of Lord Laming's recommendations and published a detailed action plan on 6 May.

Children: Protection

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General's Study on violence against children (A/61299) in ensuring that every child is protected from all forms of physical, sexual and mental violence.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government took note of the 'World Report on Violence against Children' and welcomes UN follow-up work, including the appointment, in May this year, of the Special Representative on violence against children. It has made clear its determination to do everything possible to make sure that all child protection services meet the needs of the vulnerable children they serve, and that child protection arrangements are effective everywhere. That is why the Government asked Lord Laming to prepare an urgent report of progress across the country in implementing effective arrangements for safeguarding children.
	Lord Laming's progress report confirmed that robust legislative, structural and policy foundations were now in place, but stressed the need for a renewed commitment to child protection at every level of government and across all local services.
	The Government have accepted all of Lord Laming's recommendations. Implementation will include a revision of the statutory guidance, 'Working Together to Safeguard Children', which sets out how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
	The Government have also published new guidance on safeguarding children from specific forms of child abuse, including sexual exploitation and trafficking, and has recently consulted on guidance aimed at safeguarding children and young people who may be affected by gang activity.

Children's Centres: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many Sure Start children's centres were operating in  (a) Test Valley borough and  (b) the City of Southampton on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many such centres were originally planned to be operational on that date;
	(2)  how many Sure Start children's centres are planned for  (a) Test Valley borough and  (b) the City of Southampton; and when he expects all such centres to be operational;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of children in each age group who are eligible for participation in the Sure Start children's centres programme in  (a) Test Valley borough and  (b) the City of Southampton; what the capacity of such children's centres was in those areas on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many such children were participating in that programme on that date.

Dawn Primarolo: Sure start children's centres provide a universal service for all children under five and their parents or carers when they need it. Local authorities are responsible for planning and delivering sure start children's centres in their areas.
	Test Valley borough council currently has four sure start children's centres up and running, offering access to services to around 4,285 children under five and their families. A further two centres are planned for the Test Valley area by March 2010. The city of Southampton currently has 11 children's centres offering services to approximately 10,057 children under five with a further three planned by March 2010.
	There are 12,600 children under five(1) in Southampton and 71,700 in Hampshire. We are unable to provide figures for the Test Valley area as figures are set at local authority level. The Department does not collect information centrally on the number of children using children's centres services.
	(1) Source:
	ONS Survey 2007.

Citizenship: Education

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what contribution his Department has made to the development of citizenship education in mosque schools through the Islam Citizenship Education Project;
	(2)  what financial contribution  (a) the Schools Development Support Agency and  (b) community-based organisations have made to the development of citizenship education in mosque schools.

Diana Johnson: The Islam and Citizenship Education (ICE) Project is jointly funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Communities and Local Government. We awarded a contract, worth £318,652, to the School Development Support Agency (SDSA) running from February 2008 to July 2009 to develop and pilot citizenship lessons for use in mosque schools. The SDSA, working in conjunction with Muslim communities, has successfully delivered this contract. We are currently in the process of tendering for the next stage of the ICE Project to roll out the lessons to mosque schools nationally. Apart from fulfilling their contractual obligations, the SDSA and community-based organisations have made no financial contribution towards the ICE Project.

Class Sizes

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children were taught in classes of more than 30 pupils in  (a) Hemel Hempstead constituency,  (b) Dacorum,  (c) Hertfordshire and  (d) the South East in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The available information is shown in the table.
	Dacorum is a local government district within the local authority of Hertfordshire. Data for Dacorum have been included for three years only as to provide for the full 12-year period would incur disproportionate cost.
	The tables cover classes in primary and secondary schools. There is a legal limit of 30 pupils for infant classes.
	
		
			  Maintained primary( 1)  and state-funded secondary( 1,2)  schools: number of pupils in classes( 3)  of more than 30 pupils—As at January each year in south-east Government office region, Hertfordshire, Dacorum, and Hemel Hempstead constituency 
			   South-east  Hertfordshire 
			   Number of pupils in classes of over 30  Number of pupils in all classes  Percentage of pupils in classes of over 30  Number of pupils in classes of over 30  Number of pupils in all classes  Percentage of pupils in classes of over 30 
			 1997 237,350 1,042,040 22.7 32,560 146,600 22.2 
			 1998 252,170 1,054,520 23.9 35,670 150,260 23.7 
			 1999 251,730 1,070,060 23.5 34,380 150,990 22.8 
			 2000 218,240 1,077,710 20.3 32,750 156,080 21.0 
			 2001 183,500 1,085,990 16.9 26,910 158,410 17.0 
			 2002 157,560 1,082,100 14.6 23,620 158,840 14.9 
			 2003 153,540 1,086,920 14.1 22,770 158,650 14.3 
			 2004 151,480 1,087,090 13.9 21,690 159,090 13.6 
			 2005 149,830 1,080,500 13.9 20,270 158,740 12.8 
			 2006 152,350 1,071.640 14.2 20,540 158,070 13.0 
			 2007 149,460 1,065,150 14.0 18,920 156,880 12.1 
			 2008 140,970 1,059,350 13.3 18,940 155,670 12.2 
		
	
	
		
			   Dacorum  Hemel Hempstead 
			   Number of pupils in classes of over 30  Number of pupils in all classes  Percentage of pupils in classes of over 30  Number of pupils in classes of over 30  Number of pupils in all classes  Percentage of pupils in classes of over 30 
			 1997 3,980 19,350 20.6 3,050 13,870 22.0 
			 1998 — — — 3,360 14,260 23.5 
			 1999 — — — 2,770 14,110 19.6 
			 2000 — — — 2,910 14,690 19.8 
			 20012,300 14,740 15.6 
			 2002 3,040 20,580 14.8 2,410 14.830 16.2 
			 2003 — — — 1,740 14,720 11.8 
			 2004 — — — 1,640 14,720 11.1 
			 2005 — — — 1.840 14,490 12.7 
			 2006 — — — 1,680 14,460 11.6 
			 2007 — — — 1,390 14,290 9.7 
			 2008 2,120 19,090 11.1 1,700 13,980 12.1 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes CTCs and academies. (3) One teacher classes as taught during a single selected period in each school on the day of the census in January.  Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10-  Source: School Census

Departmental Electronic Education

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) photocopiers,  (b) scanning devices and  (c) fax machines, excluding multi-function devices, there are in his Department; how many there were in his Department and its predecessors in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Diana Johnson: To reduce the use of power and consumables, The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is in the process of replacing its printers, scanners, photocopiers and fax machines with multi-function devices across its sites.
	At this time, some single-function devices are still in use although it is anticipated that this number will diminish further to leave a very small number of single-function devices, primarily for reasonable adjustments and contingency purposes.
	The approximate number of single-function devices known to be currently in use within DCSF HQ sites is:
	Photocopiers: 0
	Scanners: 31
	Fax machines: 52
	DCSF does not maintain a comprehensive central list of the number of photocopiers, scanning devices or fax machines in use in past years throughout its estate and therefore the information as requested in the latter part of the question is not available. However, procurement records show that 138 leased photocopiers were in use throughout the Department in April 2007.
	The Department does not hold records for its arm's length bodies.

Departmental Work Experience

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many interns work in his Department; what terms of reference apply to their appointment; what remuneration they receive; and how long on average an intern appointment lasts.

Diana Johnson: The Department has recruited 32 graduate and undergraduate interns whose internships started on 29 June 2009 for six to eight weeks as part of a Cabinet Office internship programme. Successful candidates are nominated or allocated to the Department by the Cabinet Office from applications through its external recruitment website, at university campus events and through recruitment agencies that specialise in diversity.
	Payments for internships in 2009 are £350 per week in London and £300 per week outside London.
	The Department also intends to be part of the 'Graduate Talent Pool' programme that has been developed by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on education maintenance allowance for  (a) 16,  (b) 17,  (c) 18 and  (d) 19 year olds in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Iain Wright: The Department spent a total of £532.9 million on the education maintenance allowance in the academic year 2007/08. Information on how much was spent on education maintenance allowance is not broken down by age.

Education: Morecambe

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much capital expenditure from the public purse there has been in the education sector in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The Department allocates much of its capital resources to local authority areas. Information by constituency is not held centrally. Support for capital investment in schools in Lancashire is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ million 
			  Financial year  Schools 
			 1997-98 13.3 
			 1998-99 19.5 
			 1999-2000 (1)36.8 
			 2000-01 42.2 
			 2001-02 40.6 
			 2002-03 63.6 
			 2003-04 72.7 
			 2004-05 60.6 
			 2005-06 55.1 
			 2006-07 55.7 
			 2007-08 62.0 
			 2008-09 62.4 
			 2009-10 (2)91.8 
			 2010-11 (2)57.7 
			 (1) Includes a PFI project of £13.4 million. (2) Includes Primary Capital Programme. 
		
	
	In addition, Lancashire has a Building Schools for the Future wave 1 project with an indicative allocation of £77.9 million of conventional funding and £254.3 million of PFI credits.

GCE A-level

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils sat an A-level in  (a) media studies,  (b) psychology,  (c) law,  (d) mathematics,  (e) physics and  (f) history in each type of school or college in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The information is presented in the following tables and covers students aged 16 to 18 attempting GCE A level examinations during the academic year in question.
	
		
			  Media Studies 
			  GCE A level entries in media/film/TV studies by institution type 
			   Comprehensive  Selective  Modern  Other maintained  Independent  Sixth Form college  Other FE college  All schools and colleges 
			 1997 2,821 228 95 1 160 3,048 2,601 8,954 
			 1998 3,468 351 149 1 174 3,639 3,023 10,805 
			 1999 4,135 318 215 0 214 3,688 2,804 11,374 
			 2000 4,651 401 211 0 243 3,692 2,968 12,166 
			 2001 5,472 421 229 0 269 4,180 3,085 13,656 
			 2002 7,031 668 310 5 377 5,100 3,258 16,749 
			 2003 8,489 659 412 3 476 5,764 3,467 19,270 
			 2004 9,837 863 480 28 514 5,743 3,525 20,990 
			 2005 10,516 936 505 56 525 5,592 3,337 21,467 
			 2006 11,501 1,033 616 61 603 5,782 3,390 22,986 
			 2007 11,645 1,011 640 107 623 5,852 3,435 23,313 
			 2008 12,661 1,019 606 123 606 5,617 3,503 24,135 
		
	
	
		
			  Psychology 
			  GCE A level entries in psychology by institution type 
			   Comprehensive  Selective  Modern  Other maintained  Independent  Sixth form college  Other FE college  All schools and colleges 
			 1997 6,230 837 44 2 463 6,670 8,016 22,262 
			 1998 7,782 1,021 60 0 575 6,898 7,543 23,879 
			 1999 8,586 1,168 84 0 595 6,658 6,718 23,809 
			 2000 9,669 1,283 110 0 790 6,697 6,524 25,073 
			 2001 11,109 1,468 138 0 751 6,927 6,290 26,683 
			 2002 14,066 2,034 167 1 1,404 8,081 6,255 32,008 
			 2003 16,830 2,702 237 4 2,033 9,528 6,563 37,897 
			 2004 19,484 3,113 305 59 2,505 10,309 7,032 42,807 
			 2005 21,696 3,585 444 63 2,507 10,987 6,741 46,023 
			 2006 23,003 3,883 556 73 2,799 11,504 6,753 48,571 
			 2007 22,743 3,890 639 117 2,820 11,650 6,744 48,603 
			 2008 23,379 3,948 626 132 3,035 11,565 6,749 49,434 
		
	
	
		
			  Law 
			  GCE A level entries in  law  by institution type 
			   Comprehensive  Selective  Modern  Other maintained  Independent  Sixth form college  Other FE college  All schools and colleges 
			 1997 1,073 136 28 0 169 2,133 3,714 7,253 
			 1998 1,129 141 37 0 137 2,135 3,526 7,105 
			 1999 1,243 164 27 0 153 2,330 3,300 7,217 
			 2000 1,396 157 48 0 138 2,339 3,111 7,189 
			 2001 1,356 156 41 0 158 2,596 3,091 7,398 
			 2002 1,727 208 48 0 169 3,298 3,056 8,506 
			 2003 2,161 249 64 0 186 4,195 3,242 10,097 
			 2004 2,764 264 73 0 232 4,847 3,661 11,841 
			 2005 3,172 259 128 9 201 5,222 3,660 12,651 
			 2006 3,717 314 145 18 188 5,444 3,685 13,511 
			 2007 3,976 341 148 17 198 5,440 3,699 13,819 
			 2008 4,262 376 142 22 169 5,623 3,604 14,198 
		
	
	
		
			  Mathematics 
			  GCE A level entries in  mathematics  by institution type 
			   Comprehensive  Selective  Modern  Other maintained  Independent  Sixth form college  Other FE college  All schools and colleges 
			 1997 22,612 5,738 169 3 12,804 8,805 5,842 55,973 
			 1998 22,709 6,196 237 0 12,854 8,991 5,602 56,589 
			 1999 22,860 6,174 241 0 12,871 8,800 5,154 56,100 
			 2000 22,237 6,099 243 0 11,967 8,278 4,850 53,674 
			 2001 22,363 6,373 212 0 12,120 8,474 4,615 54,157 
			 2002 17,469 5,426 189 1 10,515 6,884 3,672 44,156 
			 2003 17,558 5,502 238 0 10,519 7,036 3,600 44,453 
			 2004 18,001 5,708 212 28 10,885 7,317 3,866 46,017 
			 2005 18,435 5,646 210 33 10,476 7,604 3,630 46,034 
			 2006 19,632 6,337 294 41 11,685 8,158 3,658 49,805 
			 2007 21,088 6,962 351 109 11,872 8,950 3,999 53,331 
			 2008 22,891 7,539 382 113 12,534 9,757 4,402 57,618 
		
	
	—continued
	
		
			  Physics 
			  GCE A level entries in  physics  by institution type 
			   Comprehensive  Selective  Modern  Other maintained  Independent  Sixth form college  Other FE college  All schools and colleges 
			 1997 12,126 3,305 67 0 6,454 3,915 2,835 28,702 
			 1998 12,546 3,582 107 0 6,648 4,018 2,771 29,672 
			 1999 12,694 3,575 92 0 6,734 3,881 2,576 29,552 
			 2000 12,098 3,622 101 0 6,467 3,528 2,375 28,191 
			 2001 12,052 3,568 105 0 6,455 3,601 2,250 28,031 
			 2002 12,221 3,603 117 0 6,190 3,527 2,202 27,860 
			 2003 11,175 3,537 127 1 6,143 3,390 1,905 26,278 
			 2004 10,202 3,298 102 17 6,037 3,071 1,879 24,606 
			 2005 10,313 3,339 123 21 5,469 3,086 1,743 24,094 
			 2006 9,916 3,167 133 21 5,651 3,198 1,571 23,657 
			 2007 9,921 3,291 152 41 5,423 3,426 1,633 23,887 
			 2008 10,118 3,491 159 39 5,627 3,503 1,766 24,703 
		
	
	
		
			  History 
			  GCE A level entries in  history  by institution type 
			   Comprehensive  Selective  Modern  Other maintained  Independent  Sixth form college  Other FE college  All schools and colleges 
			 1997 15,740 3,321 242 1 7,112 5,759 3,894 36,069 
			 1998 15,742 3,155 263 2 6,534 5,205 3,536 34,437 
			 1999 15,244 3,301 272 1 6,605 4,824 3,159 33,406 
			 2000 15,241 3,173 277 3 6,454 4,881 3,111 33,140 
			 2001 15,498 3,404 293 0 6,555 5,053 3,027 33,830 
			 2002 16,798 3,698 267 2 6,853 5,118 2,777 35,513 
			 2003 17,138 3,884 329 4 6,849 5,323 2,986 36,513 
			 2004 17,957 4,076 375 16 7,167 5,532 3,027 38,150 
			 2005 18,532 4,237 419 27 7,084 5,979 2,920 39,198 
			 2006 19,401 4,313 443 27 7,150 6,252 3,087 40,673 
			 2007 19,279 4,447 429 65 7,174 6,181 2,967 40,542 
			 2008 20,042 4,541 440 76 7,377 6,439 3,192 42,107

GCE A-level

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of year 13 students in comprehensive maintained schools were entered for one or more A-level examinations in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: It is not possible to provide the proportion of year 13 students entered for A level examinations. It is normal in post-16 statistics to give figures as a percentage of candidates entered for qualifications at least equivalent to one A level. That would not make sense in this context—all the percentages would be 100 per cent.
	The numbers required are given in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of students in comprehensive schools entered for A levels 
			 1996/97 90,697 
			 1997/98 95,508 
			 1998/99 97,050 
			 1999/2000 96,998 
			 2000/01 100,940 
			 2001/02 107,197 
			 2002/03 111,565 
			 2003/04 113,013 
			 2004/05 116,452 
			 2005/06 116,545 
			 2006/07 113,081 
			 2007/08 116,947 
			  Notes: 1. Figures relate to all comprehensive schools including Academies and CTCs. 2. Figures relate to 16-18 year olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31st August) at the end of their advanced study. Figures for 1996/97 to 1999/2000 relate to all 16-18 year olds. 3. Figures for 1996/97 to 1999/2000 relate to entries in GCE A levels. 4. Since 2001, figures relate to entries in GCE/VCE/applied A levels and double awards. 5. Figures for 2001 onwards were taken from table 1 of the following statistical first releases: 2001 and 2002 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000387/index.shtml 2003 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000475/index.shtml 2004 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000586/index.shtml 2005 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000663/index.shtml 2006 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000703/index.shtml 2007 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000769/index.shtml 2008 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s00Q827/index.shtml 6. Figures prior to 2001 were derived from the achievement and attainment tables. data.

Health Education: Sex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  when information on how to obtain an abortion was first included in school sex education lessons; at what age pupils are provided with such information; whom he consulted on the matter; what recent representations he has received  (a) in favour of and  (b) against the current policy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what research his Department  (a) has commissioned,  (b) plans to commission and  (c) has evaluated on the effectiveness of teaching sex education in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Diana Johnson: Apart from the statutory elements of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) that are included in National Curriculum Science, schools currently have flexibility to decide the content of SRE provided within Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). DCSF has provided a non-statutory programme of study indicating what it believes it is appropriate to include within PSHE which—in Key Stage 4 (age 14 to 16)—includes 'informing pupils about where they can go to obtain health information'. This would include information, advice and treatment on contraception and sexual health issues. Subject to public consultation, the Government intend to make PSHE (and the programme of study that underpins it) statutory. First and foremost, however, the principal aim of SRE is to encourage young people to delay early sexual activity. Within secondary schools pupils are taught the skills to enable them to avoid being pressurised into unwanted or unprotected sex, and given factual information to enable them to negotiate safer sex when they do become sexually active. However, we make it clear in our "Sex and Relationship Education Guidance" (July 2000) to schools that any programme of study must be tailored to the age and the physical and emotional maturity of the children.
	As part of the Children's Plan we gave a commitment to review best practice in effective sex and relationship education (SRE) and how it is delivered in schools. Importantly, we involved young people fully in the review, many of whom told us that they did not have the knowledge they needed to make safe and responsible choices about relationships and sexual health.
	International evidence, as well as evidence from local areas that have made most progress in reducing under-18 conception rates since the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched, shows that comprehensive, age-appropriate SRE, alongside easy access to contraceptive and sexual health services, brings down rates.
	In response to the review recommendations, we announced our intention, subject to public consultation, to make SRE compulsory as part of statutory Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education. This will ensure that as well as receiving factual information, children and young people will have the opportunities to develop the skills they need to deal with the real life situations they face.
	We asked Sir Alasdair Macdonald to conduct an independent review of how the principle that PSHE should have statutory status can be translated into a practicable way forward. Following the publication of Sir Alasdair's review in April there is now a full public consultation on his recommendations, including the programmes of study to be included within statutory PSHE. This is scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer term, following which the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will analyse the results and report to Ministers.

Manufacturing the Future Programme

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people will work on the Manufacturing the Future programme in schools when the programme becomes operational; how many are working to prepare the programme; when the programme will start; how much has been spent on preparing the programme; and how much funding has been allocated for the programme in total.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	A part of the Manufacturing the Future programme focuses on presenting young people in schools and colleges, with positive images of the wide range of good careers in the Manufacturing sector. STEMNET (the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network) has been tasked with preparing a set of six product based case studies, which will be resources for teachers, to demonstrate the breadth of careers within the manufacturing sector. The products have been carefully selected as being of genuine interest to young people, particularly teenagers. STEMNET began this work in January 2009, and will complete it in July 2009, with the expectation that the resources will be posted to every UK secondary school during September 2009. A total of £54,000 has been allocated to this particular project. This will pay for six individual products to be featured, each of which contains a number of 'real-life' examples of the people who have used STEM and related skills in their manufacture.

Outdoor Education

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to provide children with access to outdoor and adventurous school-related activities.

Diana Johnson: In November 2006 the Department launched the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto with the aim that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances. The Manifesto partnership is steered by a National Advisory Group (NAG) made up from representatives from each of the eight Manifesto sectors, specialist advisers, and user representatives. Adventurous Activities are included as one of the eight sector partnerships.
	Since its launch, and with the help of the Manifesto partnership, the Department has:
	produced on-line training, resources and guidance available for schools, youth clubs and early years settings to help them plan and implement a successful all types of learning outside the classroom experiences for their learners.
	www.lotc.org.uk
	launched a new Quality Badge to bring together existing badges combining the essential elements of provision—learning and safety—into one easily recognisable and trusted Badge for all types of Learning Outside the Classroom provider organisations.
	www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk
	launched a new Independent Council for Learning Outside the Classroom to promote and champion learning outside the classroom, and to become a leading voice, influencing and challenging relevant policy and practice. By raising the profile of learning outside the classroom, the Council will promote its benefits and aim to increase the number of quality learning experiences outside the classroom.
	In addition, between 2004 and 2008, the Department has provided opportunities for nearly 35,000 young people to take part in a range of adventurous and curriculum-focused residential courses. This formed part of the London Challenge's £7.4 million New Views project to widen young Londoner's experiences and raise their aspirations.

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when the measures to regulate childcare for children under eight years old contained in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 will be implemented; and whether they will apply to children's crèches.

Dawn Primarolo: A person who is barred from working with children is already barred from working in child care for under-8s, including in a crèche, under current barring schemes. From October 2009, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will bar unsuitable persons from "regulated activity" under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, replacing current barred lists. Working with under-8s, or with children in a crèche, will both be included in regulated activity. From July 2010, we will start to phase in a duty for staff to register with the ISA under the Act. That duty will also apply to those working in regulated activity with children, including in children's crèches.

Schools for the Future - Inspirational Design for Kitchen and Dining Spaces

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's document, Schools for the Future - Inspirational Design for Kitchen and Dining Spaces.

Vernon Coaker: I will arrange for a copy of the document to be placed in the House Libraries. The Department has also recently published "Kitchen and Dining Spaces—a Design Note" which provides a summary of key design points, mainly for school heads and governors. The booklet is available at the following address
	http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/healthyliving/schoolfoodanddrink/diningrooms/

Schools: Biometrics

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  if he will make it obligatory for schools to obtain the written consent of a child's parents before assembling biometric data on a child based on fingerprint recognition;
	(2)  if he will make it obligatory for schools to destroy biometric data based on fingerprint recognition they hold on pupils when a child leaves their school;
	(3)  what steps he will take to ensure that  (a) police forces and  (b) other third parties have no direct or indirect access to biometric data based on fingerprint recognition held by schools in relation to their pupils.

Vernon Coaker: In July 2007 Becta issued guidance on the use of biometric technology in schools. This guidance was supported by complementary guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office. The Becta guidance made it clear that while consent is not required for all processing of personal data under the Data Protection Act, schools should normally involve pupils and parents in their decisions to use biometric technologies, as is the case with other decisions made during the school life of children.
	The Becta guidance also makes it clear that schools must follow the Data Protection Act in regards to the retention and storage of personal data. In accordance with the Act, schools must ensure all personal data is processed fairly and lawfully, for limited purposes, in line with individuals' rights and not held for longer than necessary. Additionally, schools need to issue a fair processing notice (FPN) to parents summarising the information held about their child or children, why it is held, and the third parties to whom it may be passed on.

Schools: Hemsworth

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what capital funding has been allocated to schools in Hemsworth constituency in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The Department allocates much of its capital resources to local authority areas. Information by constituency is not held centrally. Support for capital investment in schools in Wakefield local authority is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  £ million 
			 1997-98 5.2 
			 1998-99 7.9 
			 1999-2000 7.4 
			 2000-01 13.4 
			 2001-02 13.7 
			 2002-03 17.3 
			 2003-04 20.6 
			 2004-05 19.4 
			 2005-06 21.2 
			 2006-07 16.7 
			 2007-08 15.7 
			 2008-09 15.0 
			 2009-10 (1)24.5 
			 2010-11 (1)23.3 
			 (1 )Includes Primary Capital Programme.

Schools: Inspection

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 235-6W, on Ofsted: finance, what the projected future costs are of the new schools' inspection regime in each year for which information is available.

Vernon Coaker: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 14 July 2009:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for a response.
	In response to parliamentary question 278406, I provided information on the gross cost of the inspection of schools. This information was derived from a detailed analysis of Ofsted's 2008-09 and prior year financial accounts. At the end of each year, we undertake a retrospective analysis of our costs. It is not possible to produce such a projected analysis of similarly specific costs because of the scale of change in place in Ofsted; several major changes to Ofsted's organisational structure and operations will be implemented at the same time as the introduction of the new school inspection regime. We are also currently planning to outsource significant aspects of our early years work and this will impact on support costs.
	Consequently, we cannot provide meaningful projections of the future gross cost of the inspection of schools, which are comparable with the costs included in our previous response. This information will not be available until spring 2010.
	However, I am able to provide details of the estimated savings in the direct costs of the schools' inspection activity, excluding the indirect and overhead costs that were included in the figures provided in our previous response. This covers those inspections affected by the introduction of the new inspection regime, including those carried out under Section 5 of the Education Act 2005 (the routine programme of inspections of maintained schools) and those carried out under Section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (additional monitoring visits for maintained schools judged to be in a category of concern or judged to be satisfactory). Currently, the annual saving as a result of the introduction of the new inspection regime is projected to be £3.9m. This represents a 7.8% savings on the direct cost of the inspection of schools in 2008-09. These savings are based on a range of assumptions, for example, the number of active schools in the future and the proportion of schools judged good or better.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Vernon Coaker MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Schools: Internet

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to paragraph 2.38, page 40 of his Department's publication, Your child, your schools, our future, what estimate he has made of the likely cost of the virtual school gates pilot programme for parents and carers.

Diana Johnson: The Department is currently in on-going discussions with Netmums and the Family Matters Institute, which runs Dad Talk, about the virtual school gates pilot which will build on their existing web services. We estimate it will cost up to £60,000 plus evaluation costs.

Schools: Public Expenditure

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many primary schools in  (a) the Vale of York,  (b) North Yorkshire and  (c) England have had revenue balances in excess of those predicted in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many secondary schools in  (a) the Vale of York,  (b) North Yorkshire and  (c) England have had revenue balances in excess of those predicted in each year since 1997;
	(3)  what the  (a) revenues raised by and  (b) public expenditure on (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in (A) the Vale of York and (B) England has been in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The Department collects figures of the balances held by schools and the amount of revenues raised by schools via the section 52 outturn statements. We have collected information on balances since 1999-2000 and information on revenues raised since 2002-03. There are no figures available for previous years. The section 52 outturn statements are completed by all local authorities in England and we request only the final figures for the schools in their area. We do not collect predicted figures.
	The following table shows the number of schools in York, North Yorkshire and England that held surplus balances from 1999-2000 to 2007-08. The Department does not hold figures by constituency.
	
		
			  Number of maintained primary and secondary schools in surplus( 1)  in England and York and North Yorkshire local authorities: 1999-2000 to 2007-08( 2) 
			   LA name  Primary schools in surplus  Secondary schools in surplus 
			 1999-2000 England 16,695 2,700 
			  North Yorkshire 317 42 
			  York 61 9 
			 
			 2000-01 England 17,138 2,919 
			  North Yorkshire 323 43 
			  York 57 10 
			 
			 2001-02 England 17,093 2,857 
			  North Yorkshire 329 44 
			  York 56 10 
			 
			 2002-03 England 16,535 2,693 
			  North Yorkshire 324 42 
			  York 51 8 
			 
			 2003-04 England 16,187 2,756 
			  North Yorkshire 323 41 
			  York 49 8 
			 
			 2004-05 England 16,506 2,834 
			  North Yorkshire 327 43 
			  York 50 9 
			 
			 2005-06 England 16,302 2,745 
			  North Yorkshire 327 42 
			  York 51 8 
			 
			 2006-07 England 16,213 2,740 
			  North Yorkshire 325 42 
			  York 51 9 
			 
			 2007-08 England 16,276 2,829 
			  North Yorkshire 319 39 
			  York 50 11 
			 (1) A school's total revenue balance is calculated from the combination of any unspent allocations (including unspent standards fund grants) and the cumulative balance of income less expenditure from revenue funding sources during the financial year and any balances carried forward from previous years. This is drawn by adding together the unspent allocations and balance carried forward columns from local authorities section 52 outturn statements 1999-2000 to 2001-02 (table 2), consistent financial reporting categories B01 and B02 from local authorities section 52 outturn statements (table B) 2002-03 to 2005-06 and consistent financial reporting categories B01, B02 and B06 from local authorities section 52 outturn statements (table B) 2006-07 onwards. (2) School level revenue balances are not available prior to the inception of Section 52 for the 1999-2000 financial year. 
		
	
	In February 2009, we published the figures for balances and deficits held by schools for the financial year 2007-08. The information for 2008-09 is due to be submitted to the Department by 25 August 2009.
	The following table shows the amount of revenue that schools have raised which are held by schools with their budget. These figures are presented alongside the amount of public expenditure allocated on a national and local authority level for York. Further information on these figures can be found in the section 52 outturn statements which the Department publishes on our website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities/section52/subPage.cfm?action=section52.default&ID=64
	Note that if schools form a company for the use of their premises for community purposes and hold a separate bank account for these charges, then the funds raised in that account are not subject to the provisions laid upon school revenue funding but are subject to company law.
	
		
			  Revenue raised by England and York local authority maintained primary and secondary schools in England: 2002-03 to 2007-08, compared with public expenditure 
			Total income including donations and/or voluntary funds( 1)  Total funding( 2) 
			Primary  Secondary  Primary  Secondary 
			 2002-03 England 551,138,796 707,095,785 10,494,337,638 10,541,823,696 
			  York 1,408,066 1,818,593 32,437,446 31,533,495 
			   
			 2003-04 England 623,614,541 788,227,393 11,401,399,490 11,924,975,908 
			  York 1,521,827 1,495,139 33,264,389 34,908,444 
			   
			 2004-05 England 667,015,306 873,081,128 12,035,908,906 12,752,004,480 
			  York 1,932,485 1,676,790 35,772,953 38,072,974 
			   
			 2005-06 England 750,736,189 994,129,752 12,789,877,891 13,555,581,500 
			  York 2,692,088 2,311,242 38,166,522 39,401,808 
			   
			 2006-07 England 785,448,729 1,032,332,053 13,498,889,480 14,295,028,942 
			  York 2,822,511 2,961,480 40,168,539 40,640,659 
			   
			 2007-08 England 871,799,097 1,099,864,863 14,347,256,953 15,148,426,895 
			  York 3,310,897 3,581,284 41,960,380 42,965,892 
			 (1) For the years 2002-03 to 2005-06 these totals include "Other grants and payments received" (I07), "Income from facilities and services" (I08), "Income from catering" (I09), "Receipts from supply teacher insurance claims" (I10), "Receipts from other insurance claims" (I11), "Income from contributions to visits etc." (I12) and "Donations and/or voluntary funds" (I13). For subsequent years they include these plus "Community focused extended school facilities income" (I17). (2) For the years 2002-03 to 2005-06 these totals include "Funds delegated by the LA" (I01), "Funding for sixth form students" (I02), "SEN Funding" (I03), "Funding for minority ethnic pupils" (I04), "Standards Fund" (I05) and "Other government grants" (I06). For subsequent years they include these plus "School Standards Grant (SSG)—Pupil focused" (I14), "Pupil focused extended school funding and/or grants" (I15) and "Community focused extended school funding and/or grants" (I16).  Note: Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 16 July.  Source: The Education (Outturn Statements) (England) Regulations

Schools: Teaching Methods

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to paragraph 2.22, page 31 of his Department's publication, Your child, your schools, our future, what additional funding will be allocated in support of the guarantee of one-to-one catch-up tuition in English and mathematics.

Diana Johnson: Funding for the one-to-one tuition programme was announced as part of the most recent comprehensive spending review (CSR) settlement. There is a total of £468 million funding over the CSR period: £15 million to support 36,000 children in year 5 and year 6 in 2008/09; £138 million to support 3.5 per cent. of the Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 (and in National Challenge schools Key Stage 4) cohort in each of English and maths in 2009/10; and £315 million to support 300,000 pupils in English and 300,000 children in mathematics in 2010/11. The funding is sufficient to support the guarantee of one-to-one tuition in English and mathematics for pupils falling behind in Key Stage 2 from September 2010. This funding is also sufficient to cover the one-to-one element of the guarantee for catch-up support for pupils who enter Year 7 behind expectations.

Sixth Form Education: Lancaster

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which schools in Lancaster and Wyre constituency received less funding for sixth form places in the final yearly allocations for 2009-10 than was indicated in the provisional figures.

Iain Wright: Following the further increase of £655 million in the Budget 2009, the LSC have now issued revised letters of allocation to all schools, colleges and independent training providers. This means we have now reinstated the original allocations as at March 2009 where schools, colleges and training providers indicated they would deliver an additional 34,500 places for young people aged 16-18. But the Budget allocation has enabled Ministers to approve a revised set of allocations that will mean a further increase of 22,500 places will be made available this September.
	We are not able to provide a breakdown of the information based on a constituency basis; however the allocation for schools in the Lancashire area, which includes Lancaster and Wyre, is £23,088,202.

Specialised Diplomas: Disadvantaged

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of pupils enrolled on each diploma course are entitled to free school meals; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: We do not have comprehensive analysis of these figures because data is based upon the information entered into the Diploma Aggregation Service and uses a 'snapshot' of participation from the 18 April 2009. This does not include every diploma learner as some learners will not be registered on the system until the 2009/10 academic year, when they are due to claim their diploma. Eligibility for free school meals is based on school census data.

Teachers: Pay

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what the average salary of  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school classroom teachers was in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average salary of  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school headteachers was in the last year for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: The following table shows the average salary of classroom grade and head teachers in service in local authority maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools in England, March 2008.
	
		
			  Average salary of classroom grade and head teachers in local authority maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools. Year: March 2008. Coverage: England 
			   Classroom grade( 1)  Head teacher 
			 Nursery/primary 31,000 52,300 
			 Secondary 34,300 73,000 
			 (1) Includes main classroom, upper and advanced skills teachers.  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest £100.  Source: Database of Teacher Records

Teachers: Recruitment

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was paid in golden hellos by the Training and Development Agency for Schools in the last year for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: In 2008-09 the Training and Development Agency for Schools paid £28 million in respect of reimbursements for golden hello payments made to teachers by schools or local authorities.

Teachers: Training

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the amount of the tax-free training bursary for people training to be teachers of mathematics will be in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Vernon Coaker: The information is as follows.
	 (a) New entrants to secondary mathematics Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) initial teacher training (ITT) courses commencing on or after 1 August 2009 and on or before 31 July 2010 will receive a training bursary of up to £9,000 payable by monthly instalments over the period of their initial teacher training course.
	 (b) The applicable training bursary rate for new entrants to secondary mathematics PGCE courses starting during the academic year 2010/11 will be announced during September 2009 at the start of the 2010/11 ITT recruitment cycle.

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average annual salary for people begining the Graduate Teacher Programme was in the latest year for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: In the interests of reducing burdens on schools, information on graduate teacher pay is not collected centrally.
	It is a condition of the Graduate Teacher Programme that trainees must be paid at least the minimum of the unqualified teacher pay scale. This equates to £15,113 (excluding the London area) and £19,007 in inner London (2008/09).
	Once the trainees obtain qualified teacher status they are paid on the main scale for classroom teachers, starting from a minimum of £20,627 (excluding the London area) and £25,000 in inner London (2008/09).

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps have been taken by the Government with the objective of improving the quality of teaching training since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: For more than a decade we have worked with the Teacher Training Agency, now the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), and training providers to secure the continuous quality improvement of Initial Teacher Training (ITT).
	The standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) were revised in 1998, 2002 and 2007 setting out progressively more demanding expectations of beginner teachers. Statutory requirements apply to all accredited providers of ITT to ensure training is designed to make sure new teachers have met all of the standards. The TDA uses quality categories derived from Ofsted inspections when allocating ITT places and funding to higher education institutions and school-based providers.
	In the 10 years that this allocation approach has been used in full, the percentage of undergraduate and Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) ITT places allocated to high quality ITT providers has increased from 68 to 96 per cent. This approach has helped secure positive results from the TDA's annual survey of newly qualified teachers. Currently 85 per cent. of primary newly qualified teachers and 86 per cent. of secondary newly qualified teachers rate their training as good or very good.
	The outcomes of the first full inspections by Ofsted of the Graduate Teacher Programme will be available in the autumn of 2009 which will assess quality of training through that route. Since 2003 Teach First has brought into teaching many high quality graduates who would otherwise not have considered the profession. Ofsted said that some of their trainees were the best it had ever seen. Currently around half of teachers trained on this route remain in the profession at the end of their induction year.
	The agency's special educational needs (SEN) and disability programme of work has been developed within the context of the Government's long-term strategy: "Removing Barriers to Achievement" (2004), the "Children's Plan" (December 2007) and other evidence. Resources have been put in place to ensure that all trainees are well-prepared to teach children and young people with SEN and disabilities.
	Since 2000 the agency has invested nearly £20 million of its funding from the Department to support Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in initial teacher training alongside the Government's investment in ICT in schools. The aim is to ensure that all NQTs have strong skills in using ICT to support teaching and learning.
	TDA have worked with schools and ITT providers to ensure that ITT is up-to-date, responds rapidly to changes in the schools' curriculum, that ITT partnerships are secure and that every trainee has effective school based training.
	The SEN modules on dyslexia, autism and other frequently encountered special needs that were developed for primary ITT, were launched in June 2008 and have been well-received. Similar modules for secondary training were launched on 25 June 2009. PGCE materials are due to be launched later in 2009.
	Evaluation shows that the great majority of trainee teachers have access to a personal laptop and have opportunities to use ICT to support teaching and learning while on school experience. Research indicates that trainees and ITT providers have integrated the effective use of ICT in practice.
	"The Teacher Training Resource Bank" (www.ttrb.ac.uk) provides access to up-to-date materials and relevant research to support ITT. Over 5,000 articles are viewed daily and the site has 18,000 registered users. Evaluation shows that the resources support quality improvement by giving trainers access to key materials cost-effectively.
	In 1997 there were approximately 27,000 trainees requiring schools experience as part of their ITT programme. Currently the figure is approximately 38,000. Ofsted indicates that this expansion has been achieved effectively.
	DCSF and TDA monitor and support training providers to implement the approach to the teaching of early reading recommended by Sir Jim Rose based on the teaching of phonics.
	TDA has a range of programmes t o improve the recruitment of mathematics and science teachers by means of a targeted campaign. The target for the training of primary teachers of modern languages with 900 new teachers having an enhanced experience in teaching French, German or Spanish in 2008/09 has been met.
	The TDA have boosted the numbers of trainees who report having had a 'very good' or 'good' grounding in phonics from 35 per cent. in 2006 to 49 per cent. in the 2008 cohort. TDA have ambitious targets for further progress.
	The diversity of routes to teaching and programmes such as Transition to Teaching has boosted the supply of new science and maths teachers. The agency works to help provide additional training both pre-service and in-service to develop the subject knowledge of specialist teachers in science and mathematics.

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much money has been spent on developing the Masters course in teaching and learning.

Vernon Coaker: Since the Masters in Teaching and Learning was announced by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in March 2008, £1,482,070 has been spent on developing the programme. A further £3,250,123, split between the Training and Development Agency for Schools and MTL providers (schools and higher education institutions), is budgeted for the development of the programme between now and its launch in April 2010.

Young people: Unemployment

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2009,  Official Report, column 1018W, on young people: unemployed, how many and what proportion of people aged 16 to 24 years old were not in education, employment or training in each region in the second quarter of 2009.

Iain Wright: Quarterly estimates of the number of people aged 16-24 who were not in education, employment or training are produced from the labour force survey (LFS). The LFS data relating to the second quarter of 2009 is not available until 12 August 2009.

Youth Services: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what  (a) capital and  (b) other expenditure from the public purse per 1,000 of the population between 11 and 18 years old was in respect of youth services in real terms in each London local authority in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2008.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government do not set a budget for spending on youth services. Local authorities receive funding from Government through the revenue support grant for youth services and it is for them to decide how much funding should be spent based on Government priorities and local needs. Information on local authority capital expenditure on youth facilities is not collected by the Department.
	Since 2006, the Department has provided capital funding to local areas through the Youth Capital Fund and from 2008, the 'myplace' initiative.
	The following table sets out expenditure in respect of youth services for each London local authority from 2001-09 and funds allocated in respect of the Youth Capital Fund and 'myplace' initiative for 2008-09. The Department does not hold information as far back as 1997.
	
		
			  The Education (Budget Statements) (England) Regulations, budgeted net expenditure by local authorities in England on youth services( 1) : 2000-01 to 2008-09( 2, 3) , real terms figures( 3)  as reported by local authorities as at 16 July 2009 
			  £ 
			Budgeted net expenditure on youth services( 1, 2, 3) 
			  LA no.  LA name  2000-01  2001-02( 2)  2002-03( 2)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 201 City of London 343,464 163,174 147,598 160,874 189,016 250,541 269,598 311,574 247,700 
			 202 Camden 2,713,113 2,777,364 2,752,066 2,605,799 2,573,320 2,667,087 2,762,048 2,651,919 3,965,941 
			 203 Greenwich 3,073,628 3,120,302 3,196,499 3,444,560 3,518,219 3,673,243 3,565,777 3,249,075 4,000,039 
			 204 Hackney 1,481,979 0 0 1,218,759 1,287,989 1,625,160 2,576,962 2,864,097 2,834,026 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 918,938 1,326,211 1,021,692 1,336,721 1,338,005 1,423,898 1,432,163 1,436,267 1,447,462 
			 206 Islington 7,350,124 6,679,333 7,230,320 3,577,437 3,689,476 3,568,988 2,820,935 2,450,530 2,955,890 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 4,823,487 4,331,200 4,402,932 4,186,913 2,169,536 2,081,153 2,546,862 3,142,053 3,489,130 
			 208 Lambeth 2,324,256 6,673,567 3,713,284 4,077,371 2,091,816 1,947,302 1,993,425 2,237,457 2,655,278 
			 209 Lewisham 3,336,647 3,508,472 3,184,081 3,362,278 3,620,286 3,763,667 3,778,997 3,580,390 3,766,323 
			 210 Southwark 3,467,803 3,476,161 3,554,935 3,783,205 4,596,661 4,037,539 3,863,074 4,042,904 3,575,586 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 5,153,428 5,271,296 5,621,924 5,450,829 4,583,635 4,947,740 4,790,167 4,757,733 4,825,619 
			 212 Wandsworth 0 3,578,619 3,678,776 3,632,492 3,649,693 3,186,246 3,254,117 3,346,001 3,287,338 
			 213 Westminster 2,123,707 2,127,271 2,329,791 2,198,460 2,490,913 2,796,388 2,929,445 2,559,116 3,073,895 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 1,186,645 1,079,532 1,061,251 1,220,695 1,300,498 1,278,397 1,304,492 1,400,037 1,285,298 
			 302 Barnet 2,777,857 2,197,757 2,680,121 2,035,109 1,680,635 1,364,147 1,437,453 1,517,521 1,745,380 
			 303 Bexley 1,935,975 1,958,570 2,209,315 2,200,838 2,350,583 2,387,543 2,175,055 2,005,968 2,002,000 
			 304 Brent 2,684,077 2,496,876 2,543,389 1,852,145 2,164,431 2,371,324 2,624,559 2,703,918 2,689,000 
			 305 Bromley 1,381,934 1,345,682 1,249,464 1,257,600 1,269,690 1,274,865 1,465,806 1,478,776 1,610,782 
			 306 Croydon 3,090,196 3,133,357 3,984,922 4,049,418 2,901,942 3,086,461 4,116,259 3,659,509 3,827,756 
			 307 Ealing 1,879,100 1,863,645 1,763,028 1,866,636 1,812,945 1,831,747 1,740,674 1,909,161 2,034,817 
			 308 Enfield 1,211,346 1,264,459 1,305,622 1,534,453 1,586,325 1,641,583 1,731,394 2,067,894 2,356,094 
			 309 Haringey 1,843,500 2,278,670 2,289,957 2,373,737 2,158,593 2,220,812 2,301,249 1,900,549 1,936,960 
			 310 Harrow 945,419 1,195,620 911,880 1,003,515 1,283,496 1,808,846 1,777,392 1,548,194 1,567,760 
			 311 Havering 1,632,773 1,505,391 1,550,874 2,031,892 2,043,360 2,132,731 1,977,598 2,016,871 4,612,120 
			 312 Hillingdon 1,777,477 1,770,166 2,068,481 2,414,678 2,515,969 3,322,512 3,284,588 2,048,959 2,253,644 
			 313 Hounslow 905,953 923,532 965,189 928,156 960,476 1,434,120 1,382,826 1,347,263 2,107,125 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 935,383 1,174,366 1,166,076 1,233,981 1,348,176 1,304,017 1,317,049 1,352,668 1,434,626 
			 315 Merton 678,423 691,782 705,083 913,427 891,129 915,904 1,098,527 1,214,509 1,299,420 
			 316 Newham 1,486,220 1,666,259 1,776,509 3,605,910 3,707,385 3,581,707 3,560,941 3,540,934 5,932,663 
			 317 Redbridge 1,990,481 2,126,689 2,351,850 2,268,553 2,098,835 2,131,846 2,136,141 2,242,884 2,323,512 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 922,782 776,819 807,599 791,011 811,469 1,027,790 1,132,163 1,437,900 1,399,813 
			 319 Sutton 1,706,824 1,844,247 2,010,672 1,466,170 1,463,751 1,452,936 1,440,621 1,309,914 1,363,760 
			 320 Waltham Forest 2,574,350 3,499,808 2,402,351 2,213,314 2,373,009 2,521,670 2,427,953 2,381,205 2,515,168 
			  Total 70,657,291 77,826,194 76,637,529 76,296,935 72,521,261 75,059,909 77,016,308 75,713,752 86,421,924 
			  Notes: 1. Youth service includes the following items of planned expenditure on the Youth Service and youth work: Employees Staff Training Premises-related expenditure Transport-related expenditure Supplies and services Third-party payments Support services Youth work costs at residential and non-residential youth centres Youth work costs at activity at outdoor and urban studies centres Grant funding to the voluntary sector for youth work. 2. The 2001-02 and 2002-03 figures also include any local authority youth service provision that contributed to the delivery of the Connexions Service plus any Connexions Service specific funding. 3. Cash figures are converted to 2008-09 prices using the 30 June 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) deflators.  Source: Figures are drawn from local authorities Section 52 Budget Statement (Table 1) submitted to the DCSF (formally DfES). 
		
	
	
		
			  Youth capital fund and youth capital fund plus, 2008-09 
			  GO region  LA name  YCF 2008-09 allocation  YCF plus 2008-09 allocation  Total 
			 London Tower Hamlets 183,600 452,000 635,600 
			 London Hackney 139,200 452,000 591,200 
			 London Islington 118,000 452,000 570,000 
			 London Newham 173,700 452,000 625,700 
			 London Southwark 191,900 452,000 643,900 
			 London Haringey 160,300 452,000 612,300 
			 London Camden 111,700 452,000 563,700 
			 London Barking and Dagenham 109,400 452,000 561,400 
			 London Lambeth 142,400 452,000 594,400 
			 London Westminster 135,900 0 135,900 
			 London Greenwich 180,400 452,000 632,400 
			 London Lewisham 171,000 452,000 623,000 
			 London Waltham Forest 149,500 452,000 601,500 
			 London City of London 50,000 0 50,000 
			 London Hammersmith and Fulham 87,700 0 87,700 
			 London Kensington and Chelsea 113,500 0 113,500 
			 London Brent 154,100 0 154,100 
			 London Enfield 169,300 0 169,300 
			 London Ealing 152,500 0 152,500 
			 London Croydon 179,700 0 179,700 
			 London Hounslow 126,000 0 126,000 
			 London Wandsworth 126,600 0 126,600 
			 London Bexley 114,900 0 114,900 
			 London Bromley 144,100 0 144,100 
			 London Barnet 172,600 0 172,600 
			 London Sutton 98,900 0 98,900 
			 London Hillingdon 166,800 0 166,800 
			 London Havering 106,200 0 106,200 
			 London Redbridge 114,500 0 114,500 
			 London Merton 98,900 0 98,900 
			 London Harrow 100,000 0 100,000 
			 London Kingston upon Thames 72,200 0 72,200 
			 London Richmond upon Thames 78,600 0 78,600 
			 Total London  4,394,100 5,424,000 9,818,100 
		
	
	
		
			  myplace initiative, 2008-09 
			  GO region  Project name  Lead organisation  Grant allocation 2008-09  Total 
			 London Sutton Life Centre LB of Sutton 4,074,688 4,074,688 
			 London New Horizon Youth Centre Third Sector 1,500,000 1,500,000 
			 London Trinity at Bowes Centre Plus Third Sector 2,168,228 2,168,228 
			 London Slamon Youth Centre Phase 2 Third Sector 1,118,679 1,118,679 
			 Total London8,861,595

Health and Safety Executive: Publications

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the last inspection report of the Health and Safety Executive by  (a) the Office of the Surveillance Commissioner and  (b) the Interception of Communications Commissioner.

David Hanson: The oversight Commissioners are independent of Government and it is a matter for them and the individual public authority concerned to decide whether it is appropriate for inspection reports to be made more widely available.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each court service area aged (i) between 10 and 12 years, (ii) between 13 and 16 years, (iii) between 17 to 18 years, (iv) between 19 and 24 years and (v) over 24 years old were (A) proceeded against, (B) found guilty and (C) sentenced to immediate custody for alcohol-related offences in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: Data showing the number of persons proceeded against at the magistrates courts, found guilty at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody for alcohol related offences, England and Wales 1997 to 2007 (latest available) are shown in the following table.
	Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
	
		
			  The number of males and females proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody for alcohol related offences( 1) , by age group England and Wales( 2,3) 
			  Male 
			   10-12  13-16  17-18 
			   Proceeded against  Found guilty  Immediate custody  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Immediate custody  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Immediate custody 
			 1997 4 2 — 991 813 7 6,207 5,204 65 
			 1998 11 10 — 998 813 7 6,357 5,428 79 
			 1999 9 9 — 1,168 986 9 6,038 5,223 66 
			 2000 8 5 — 1,299 1,086 13 6,022 5,247 90 
			 2001 7 7 — 1,412 1,102 20 6,408 5,435 86 
			 2002 11 9 — 1,372 1.119 18 6,322 5,454 85 
			 2003 8 7 — 1,416 1,178 15 6,502 5,648 59 
			 2004 8 7 — 1,320 1,122 17 5,559 5,037 69 
			 2005 8 6 — 1,114 973 12 4,561 4,198 40 
			 2006 6 6 — 1,078 939 2 4,475 4,150 42 
			 2007 1 — — 1,210 1,062 5 4,403 4,099 44 
		
	
	
		
			  Male 
			   19-24  25 and over  Total 
			 1997 27,002 23,023 588 87,041 78,542 3,354 121,245 108,544 4,014 
			 1998 26,052 23,183 584 83,117 74,644 3,041 116,535 104,078 3,711 
			 1999 24,756 22,218 568 77,113 69,707 2.95C 109,084 98,143 3,593 
			 2000 24,534 21,903 617 72,923 65,413 2,694 104,786 93,654 3,414 
			 2001 25,301 22,477 625 70,832 63,198 2,689 103,960 92,219 3,420 
			 2002 26,830 23,988 624 74,047 66,365 2,546 108,582 96,935 3,273 
			 2003 27,673 24,986 586 75,395 67,679 2,350 110,994 99,498 3,010 
			 2004 24.817 22,967 557 72,905 66,676 2,275 104,609 95,809 2,918 
			 2005 22,384 21,074 455 68,125 62.790 2,205 96,192 89,041 2,712 
			 2006 22,173 20,873 405 66,898 61,986 1,794 94,630 87,954 2,247 
			 2007 21,326 20,334 382 64,992 60,659 1,561 91,932 86,154 1,992 
		
	
	
		
			  Female 
			   10-12  13-15  17-18 
			 1997 — — — 138 104 — 427 345 1 
			 1998 — — — 157 114 — 541 441 1 
			 1999 4 2 — 171 143 — 504 425 — 
			 2000 2 2 — 245 194 — 466 379 — 
			 2001 6 5 — 247 180 — 499 412 — 
			 2002 3 2 — 241 177 — 534 446 — 
			 2003 — — — 287 233 — 675 563 — 
			 2004 1 1 — 330 268 — 560 495 — 
			 2005 — — — 313 265 — 590 529 — 
			 2006 1 — — 311 268 — 626 564 — 
			 2007 1 — — 433 382 — 695 625 1 
		
	
	
		
			  Female 
			   19-24  25 and over  Total 
			 1997 2,092 1,846 11 8,839 7,879 110 11,496 10,174 122 
			 1998 2,040 1,823 10 9,230 8,162 113 11,968 10,540 124 
			 1999 2,031 1.802 13 9,162 8,191 10E 11,872 10,563 122 
			 2000 2,077 1,817 14 9,299 8,295 96 12,089 10,687 110 
			 2001 2,182 1,884 11 9,048 7,998 102 11,982 10,479 113 
			 2002 2,413 2,117 12 10,191 9,076 86 13,382 11,818 98 
			 2003 2,687 2,392 7 10,616 9,494 101 14,265 12,682 108 
			 2004 2,631 2,432 15 10,600 9,629 114 14,122 12,825 129 
			 2005 2,547 2,382 15 10,254 9,459 102 13,704 12.635 117 
			 2006 2.708 2,550 12 10,380 9,604 73 14,026 12,986 85 
			 2007 2,886 2,724 9 10,729 10,005 73 14,744 13,736 83 
			 (1) Includes offences of: (a) Drunkenness simple. (b) Drunkenness with aggravation. (c) Offences by licensed person. (d) Other offences against intoxicating liquor laws. (e) Driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs. (2) The number proceeded against and number found guilty statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces and the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  Evidence and Analysis unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform [Ref: IOS 364-09]

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) men and  (b) women aged (i) under 31, (ii) 31 to 40, (iii) 41 to 50, (iv) 51 to 60, (v) 61 to 70 and (vi) over 70 years have been issued with penalty notices for disorder for being drunk and disorderly in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many  (a) men and  (b) women aged (i) 10 to 12, (ii) 13 to 16, (iii) 17 to 18 and (iv) 19 to 30 years old have been issued with penalty notices for disorder for being drunk and disorderly in each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: Information showing the number of males and females issued with a penalty notice for disorder for being drunk and disorderly in England and Wales, broken down by sex and age group from 2004 to 2007 can be viewed in the following table.
	2008 data will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Number of penalty notices for disorder issued for being drunk and disorderly( 1) , by sex and age group, 2004 to 2007( 2,3) 
			  Sex and age group  2004( 4)  2005  2006  2007 
			  Males 
			 16 299 570 736 703 
			 17-18 2,882 4,442 5,205 5,274 
			 19-30 13,340 18,720 21,613 23,157 
			 16 to 30 16,521 23,732 27,554 29,134 
			 31 -40 4,701 5,856 6,494 6,765 
			 41 -50 2,403 3,117 3,591 3,819 
			 51 -60 861 1,054 1,133 1,092 
			 61 -70 228 265 275 283 
			 71 and over 46 54 40 39 
			 Total 24,760 34,078 39,087 41,132 
			  
			  Females 
			 16 90 167 225 233 
			 17-18 434 737 1,032 1,019 
			 19-30 1,888 2,720 3,169 3,657 
			 16 to 30 2,412 3,624 4,426 4,909 
			 31 -40 1,117 1,383 1,571 1,630 
			 41 -50 604 867 935 1,135 
			 51 -60 173 191 220 216 
			 61 -70 22 30 27 33 
			 71 and over 2 3 2 7 
			 Total 4,330 6,098 7,181 7,930 
			 (1) Data includes the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Being found drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises—Licensing Act 1872, section 12; Being guilty while drunk of disorderly behaviour—Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 91. (2) The penalty notice for disorder (PND) scheme was implemented in all 43 police forces in England and Wales in 2004 under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Under the scheme, the police are able to issue penalty notices (£50 or £80) to those aged 18 and over for a range of minor alcohol-related offences including being drunk in a highway which attracts the lower tariff. The scheme was extended to 16 and 17-year-olds under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003; the tariffs for young people are £40 and £30. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Figures for 2004 exclude 16 PNDs issued where the gender of the offender was not recorded.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions there were for selling alcohol to people under the age of 18 years from  (a) on-licence and  (b) off-licence premises in each police force in the North West in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: Data showing the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for selling alcohol to persons aged under 18, in each police force area in the North West region from 2003-07 (latest available) are shown in the following table.
	It is not possible to differentiate between sales on premises and off premises in the court proceedings database.
	Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for selling alcohol to persons aged under 18( 1) , by police force area in the North West region, 2003-07( 2, 3) 
			  Force  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Cheshire 5 15 5 6 5 
			 Cumbria — 1 6 1 1 
			 Greater Manchester 87 135 92 112 30 
			 Lancashire 13 15 65 22 21 
			 Merseyside 27 9 11 16 20 
			 Total 132 175 179 157 77 
			 (1) Includes the following offences: (a) Holder of occasional permission or his agent knowingly selling to, knowingly allow consumption by or allowing any person to sell, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises. (b) Wholesaler selling intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. (c ) Sale of alcohol to person under 18. (d) Allowing sale of alcohol to person under 18. (e) Persistently selling alcohol to children. (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit: Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Antisocial Behaviour: Alcoholic Drinks

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females aged (i) under 16, (ii) between 16 and 19, (iii) between 20 and 25, (iv) between 26 and 30, (v) between 31 and 40, (vii) between 51 and 60 and (viii) 61 and over have been cautioned, proceeded against or received a penalty notice for disorder for being drunk and disorderly in each police force area in the last 12 months.

Alan Campbell: Information showing the number of males and females cautioned, proceeded against and issued with a Penalty Notice for Disorder for being drunk and disorderly in England and Wales 2007, broken down by age group and police force area, can be viewed in tables l, 2 and 3.
	2008 data will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of offenders cautioned( 1)  for drunk and disorderly offences, broken down by sex, age and police force area, England and Wales, 2007( 2, 3) 
			   Male 
			  140/01, 141/01  age groups  
			  Police force area  10-15  16-19  20-25  26-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  61+  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 5 28 16 5 9 8 4 — 75 
			 Bedfordshire — — — — — — — 1 1 
			 Cambridgeshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 Cheshire 5 15 13 1 3 4 3 3 47 
			 City of London — 3 2 2 8 5 2 1 23 
			 Cleveland 6 9 2 6 1 — 3 1 28 
			 Cumbria 11 34 15 1 9 12 3 — 85 
			 Derbyshire 3 9 3 — 1 — — 1 17 
			 Devon and Cornwall 15 88 57 25 43 45 16 6 295 
			 Dorset 2 11 5 — — 1 1 1 21 
			 Durham 15 47 12 4 2 7 2 — 89 
			 Essex — — — — — — — — — 
			 Gloucestershire — 4 3 1 2 3 — 1 14 
			 Greater Manchester 4 9 8 2 11 2 3 — 39 
			 Hampshire 4 25 14 2 4 9 1 1 60 
			 Hertfordshire 2 4 5 2 5 3 2 — 23 
			 Humberside 2 1 — 1 1 — — — 5 
			 Kent 20 22 20 10 9 5 2 — 88 
			 Lancashire 16 54 58 15 34 26 6 5 214 
			 Leicestershire — — — 2 — 1 — 1 4 
			 Lincolnshire 1 8 8 6 16 6 5 1 51 
			 Merseyside 9 21 35 16 23 12 2 5 123 
			 Metropolitan Police — 33 114 55 89 63 19 6 379 
			 Norfolk — 2 — — — — — 1 3 
			 North Yorkshire 4 13 9 3 5 5 3 3 45 
			 Northamptonshire — 1 — — — — — — 1 
			 Northumbria 76 180 147 65 81 48 25 12 634 
			 Nottinghamshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 South Yorkshire 12 24 2 3 1 2 — 2 46 
			 Staffordshire — 5 2 1 5 2 — 1 16 
			 Suffolk — 6 9 3 10 6 3 1 38 
			 Surrey 1 — 4 4 5 4 1 — 19 
			 Sussex 14 31 31 17 17 31 10 5 156 
			 Thames Valley 1 9 12 6 11 14 4 — 57 
			 Warwickshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 West Mercia 7 49 42 16 20 18 1 2 155 
			 West Midlands 4 40 35 15 29 15 10 4 152 
			 West Yorkshire 29 168 149 58 89 55 28 6 582 
			 Wiltshire 1 1 1 1 1 3 — — 8 
			 Dyfed-Powys 8 31 8 12 16 1 3 6 85 
			 Gwent 13 83 82 35 34 18 7 2 274 
			 North Wales 6 15 12 6 11 4 3 3 60 
			 South Wales 2 12 9 8 6 6 4 3 50 
			 England and Wales 298 1,095 944 409 611 444 176 85 4,062 
		
	
	
		
			   Female 
			  140/01, 141/01  age groups  
			  Police force area  10-15  16-19  20-25  26-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  61 +  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 2 11 4 — 3 3 2 — 25 
			 Bedfordshire — — — 1 — — — — 1 
			 Cambridgeshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 Cheshire 4 4 2 1 4 1 — — 16 
			 City of London 1 — — 1 — — — — 2 
			 Cleveland 1 4 — 1 — 1 — — 7 
			 Cumbria 15 14 6 4 2 2 2 — 45 
			 Derbyshire 3 10 — 1 3 1 — — 18 
			 Devon and Cornwall 30 37 18 6 19 19 3 1 133 
			 Dorset 2 2 2 2 1 — — — 9 
			 Durham 16 18 7 1 4 2 3 — 51 
			 Essex — — — — — — — — — 
			 Gloucestershire — 2 1 — — — 1 — 4 
			 Greater Manchester 6 4 1 — 2 1 — — 14 
			 Hampshire 4 11 4 2 2 1 1 — 25 
			 Hertfordshire 1 2 2 1 1 — 2 — 9 
			 Humberside — 1 — — — — — — 1 
			 Kent 12 5 4 1 4 — 3 — 29 
			 Lancashire 16 50 21 5 19 17 7 — 135 
			 Leicestershire 1 1 — — — — — — 2 
			 Lincolnshire — 1 2 — — 1 — — 4 
			 Merseyside 13 12 2 4 8 1 — 3 43 
			 Metropolitan Police — 13 34 8 16 14 6 1 92 
			 Norfolk — — — — — — — — — 
			 North Yorkshire 8 10 1 1 2 2 1 — 25 
			 Northamptonshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 Northumbria 75 98 48 13 33 27 6 3 303 
			 Nottinghamshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 South Yorkshire 17 7 3 1 1 2 — 1 32 
			 Staffordshire 1 1 1 — 1 — — — 4 
			 Suffolk 1 3 — 1 — 1 1 1 8 
			 Surrey 3 3 1 — 3 2 1 — 13 
			 Sussex 11 16 3 4 10 7 1 2 54 
			 Thames Valley 6 4 2 3 2 2 — — 19 
			 Warwickshire — — — — — — — — — 
			 West Mercia 3 18 13 4 8 5 — — 51 
			 West Midlands 9 24 10 4 7 9 2 1 66 
			 West Yorkshire 38 65 48 18 50 23 4 — 246 
			 Wiltshire 1 — — — — — — — 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 3 9 5 — 4 3 3 — 27 
			 Gwent 13 17 19 10 18 12 1 1 91 
			 North Wales 3 7 1 2 2 3 2 — 20 
			 South Wales 2 12 — — 3 3 1 — 21 
			 England and Wales 321 496 265 100 232 165 53 14 1,646 
			 (1) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for drunk and disorderly offences, broken down by age, sex and police force area, England and Wales 2007( 1, 2) 
			   Male 
			   age groups  
			  Police force area  10-15  16-19  20-25  26-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  61 +  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 4 35 40 24 55 62 73 18 311 
			 Bedfordshire 1 10 11 10 25 34 4 3 98 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 8 17 8 23 27 12 13 109 
			 Cheshire 7 34 32 25 41 40 6 3 188 
			 City of London — — 5 3 14 26 11 — 59 
			 Cleveland g 16 31 12 19 22 5 1 115 
			 Cumbria 6 78 94 45 62 49 11 3 348 
			 Derbyshire 4 39 60 31 48 32 9 2 225 
			 Devon and Cornwall 19 103 112 84 137 157 38 4 654 
			 Dorset 5 24 24 13 21 23 5 4 119 
			 Durham 13 72 37 23 22 15 9 — 191 
			 Essex 1 19 45 23 49 35 13 3 188 
			 Gloucestershire — 8 11 7 9 7 2 — 44 
			 Greater Manchester 8 37 68 24 63 49 20 3 272 
			 Hampshire 7 38 64 31 48 41 16 1 246 
			 Hertfordshire — 8 5 6 18 10 4 2 53 
			 Humberside 1 16 6 4 18 9 7 — 61 
			 Kent 14 57 71 35 107 78 19 7 388 
			 Lancashire 31 125 146 84 112 106 23 6 633 
			 Leicestershire — 4 7 3 7 7 8 — 36 
			 Lincolnshire — 12 20 7 15 11 4 — 69 
			 Merseyside 19 147 301 119 238 142 38 19 1,023 
			 Metropolitan Police 9 46 140 129 288 266 86 34 998 
			 Norfolk — 18 24 12 37 15 10 — 116 
			 North Yorkshire 1 25 44 29 70 53 22 8 252 
			 Northamptonshire 1 3 1 2 6 2 2 1 18 
			 Northumbria 106 902 1,165 464 577 312 112 25 3,663 
			 Nottinghamshire 3 28 63 46 49 33 11 4 237 
			 South Yorkshire 17 68 141 71 101 111 19 5 533 
			 Staffordshire 4 24 31 15 27 37 13 4 155 
			 Suffolk — 12 21 14 19 19 9 2 96 
			 Surrey — 7 25 30 35 30 22 4 153 
			 Sussex 7 62 71 44 116 89 42 6 437 
			 Thames Valley 2 38 52 21 42 47 19 3 224 
			 Warwickshire — 12 10 8 6 7 5 — 48 
			 West Mercia 3 95 138 53 63 38 11 11 412 
			 West Midlands 3 159 231 132 319 199 71 16 1,130 
			 West Yorkshire 29 201 315 179 347 247 76 21 1,415 
			 Wiltshire 1 6 20 7 28 18 7 5 92 
			 Dyfed-Powys 3 26 35 14 37 20 22 10 167 
			 Gwent 4 57 82 42 60 44 15 8 312 
			 North Wales 6 39 35 21 36 45 20 2 204 
			 South Wales 5 28 36 22 46 40 11 2 190 
			 England and Wales 354 2,746 3,887 1,976 3,460 2,654 942 263 16,282 
		
	
	
		
			   Female 
			   age groups  
			  Police force area  10-15  16-19  20-25  26-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  61 +  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 5 6 5 3 9 5 3 — 36 
			 Bedfordshire 1 6 3 1 3 7 2 — 23 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 5 2 1 5 4 1 — 19 
			 Cheshire 1 6 4 4 6 14 2 — 37 
			 City of London — — — — — — — — — 
			 Cleveland 8 5 1 4 4 3 — — 25 
			 Cumbria 9 13 9 6 8 20 7 — 72 
			 Derbyshire 2 5 9 4 6 4 2 — 32 
			 Devon and Cornwall 11 39 11 10 19 12 7 — 109 
			 Dorset 2 4 3 — 5 5 — — 19 
			 Durham 4 20 13 3 9 3 — — 52 
			 Essex 1 3 4 4 6 1 — — 19 
			 Gloucestershire — 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 4 
			 Greater Manchester 1 9 4 2 5 5 2 — 28 
			 Hampshire 3 9 6 5 13 4 1 — 41 
			 Hertfordshire 1 — — 1 3 5 1 — 11 
			 Humberside 2 4 3 — — 2 1 — 12 
			 Kent 13 20 10 8 9 13 3 — 76 
			 Lancashire 13 32 23 16 13 23 2 — 122 
			 Leicestershire — 2 2 1 — — — — 5 
			 Lincolnshire — — — — 2 3 2 — 7 
			 Merseyside 4 27 29 14 52 39 12 3 180 
			 Metropolitan Police 15 17 13 9 30 27 10 2 123 
			 Norfolk 1 2 1 4 7 4 1 — 20 
			 North Yorkshire 8 17 4 4 11 5 7 1 57 
			 Northamptonshire — 2 1 — 1 — 1 — 5 
			 Northumbria 56 183 141 74 119 62 19 1 655 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 3 4 2 7 6 2 — 25 
			 South Yorkshire 7 18 24 7 17 10 2 — 85 
			 Staffordshire 6 9 5 3 5 10 8 — 46 
			 Suffolk — 3 2 3 5 1 — — 14 
			 Surrey — 8 1 2 10 12 5 — 38 
			 Sussex 6 14 14 6 21 24 1 — 86 
			 Thames Valley 6 4 1 3 10 11 2 — 37 
			 Warwickshire 1 3 — 2 1 — 1 — 8 
			 West Mercia 5 16 6 7 2 5 2 — 43 
			 West Midlands 8 30 21 25 19 26 5 — 134 
			 West Yorkshire 15 49 45 45 53 41 6 — 254 
			 Wiltshire 1 — 2 — 3 8 1 — 15 
			 Dyfed-Powys 2 10 7 8 5 20 — — 52 
			 Gwent 9 13 6 6 11 5 8 1 59 
			 North Wales 1 6 5 1 11 12 1 — 37 
			 South Wales 4 4 6 3 5 10 1 — 33 
			 England and Wales 234 627 451 301 531 471 131 9 2,755 
			 (1) These data are an the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued for being drunk and disorderly( 1)  by police force area and age group, 2007( 2) 
			   Male 
			   age groups  
			  Police force area  16-19  20-25  26-30  31-40  41-50  51-80  61+  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 53 74 27 49 18 6 2 229 
			 Bedfordshire 39 92 28 46 22 7 2 236 
			 Cambridgeshire 72 113 60 63 51 17 4 380 
			 Cheshire 114 169 72 88 44 12 4 503 
			 City of London 12 87 59 65 25 4 — 252 
			 Cleveland 105 138 68 68 44 9 1 433 
			 Cumbria 137 226 77 107 52 16 5 620 
			 Derbyshire 190 201 79 114 49 22 6 661 
			 Devon and Cornwall 392 528 224 190 108 47 11 1,500 
			 Dorset 41 68 32 23 15 4 2 185 
			 Durham 172 295 81 110 66 14 2 740 
			 Essex 81 141 67 56 49 9 3 406 
			 Gloucestershire 28 30 17 20 17 7 1 120 
			 Greater Manchester 73 102 39 62 35 8 4 323 
			 Hampshire 113 190 61 91 46 9 2 512 
			 Hertfordshire 71 90 26 24 21 13 1 246 
			 Humberside 159 177 74 97 56 12 3 578 
			 Kent 476 632 241 305 195 62 17 1,928 
			 Lancashire 1,273 1,609 613 752 412 105 31 4,795 
			 Leicestershire 58 141 72 61 39 8 2 381 
			 Lincolnshire 15 28 12 11 3 2 — 71 
			 Merseyside 751 1,076 416 508 333 98 34 3,216 
			 Metropolitan Police 308 857 511 738 424 127 47 3,012 
			 Norfolk 55 83 32 55 21 8 — 254 
			 Northamptonshire 66 121 43 49 32 6 — 317 
			 Northumbria 927 1,457 541 562 300 70 22 3,879 
			 North Yorkshire 243 322 115 148 80 21 8 937 
			 Nottinghamshire 129 205 71 77 41 11 2 536 
			 South Yorkshire 539 869 306 364 160 32 12 2,282 
			 Staffordshire 97 114 41 58 41 9 8 368 
			 Suffolk 25 24 10 12 8 2 3 84 
			 Surrey 69 74 38 40 36 14 — 271 
			 Sussex 317 486 189 214 108 38 9 1,361 
			 Thames Valley 62 119 48 43 31 10 2 315 
			 Warwickshire 26 37 11 15 8 6 — 103 
			 West Mercia 145 208 69 74 29 8 3 536 
			 West Midlands 744 1,220 446 537 297 83 22 3,349 
			 West Yorkshire 589 854 324 352 190 57 10 2.376 
			 Wiltshire 64 103 29 31 28 4 4 263 
			 Dyfed-Powys 59 74 34 46 24 10 3 250 
			 Gwent 52 68 28 19 13 3 6 189 
			 North Wales 284 349 129 167 85 36 4 1,054 
			 South Wales 73 100 37 53 26 7 9 305 
			  
			 British Transport Police 84 203 101 201 137 39 11 776 
			  
			 England and Wales 9,382 14,154 5,598 6,765 3,819 1,092 322 41,132 
		
	
	
		
			   Female 
			   age groups  
			  Police force area  16-19  20-25  26-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  61+  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 9 6 4 7 9 1 — 36 
			 Bedfordshire 5 7 5 7 4 1 — 29 
			 Cambridgeshire 11 16 3 3 11 3 1 48 
			 Cheshire 19 26 17 20 16 4 — 102 
			 City of London 4 6 8 10 4 — — 32 
			 Cleveland 25 25 13 25 20 2 3 113 
			 Cumbria 17 28 17 27 29 1 1 120 
			 Derbyshire 34 21 18 23 19 5 — 120 
			 Devon and Cornwall 57 68 26 45 35 10 1 242 
			 Dorset 5 3 2 9 3 — — 22 
			 Durham 28 52 19 35 18 10 — 162 
			 Essex 9 26 10 12 12 2 1 72 
			 Gloucestershire 9 3 1 6 1 — — 20 
			 Greater Manchester 23 19 6 11 9 3 1 72 
			 Hampshire 22 14 9 17 9 1 1 73 
			 Hertfordshire 14 11 4 3 10 — — 42 
			 Humberside 25 36 9 11 15 1 — 97 
			 Kent 75 78 45 81 48 10 2 339 
			 Lancashire 286 289 154 221 133 18 2 1,103 
			 Leicestershire 8 19 6 8 7 1 — 49 
			 Lincolnshire 1 1 1 2 1 — — 6 
			 Merseyside 161 185 74 133 111 13 2 679 
			 Metropolitan Police 60 100 75 133 88 20 6 482 
			 Norfolk 2 8 3 12 5 — — 30 
			 Northamptonshire 11 11 2 7 7 1 — 39 
			 Northumbria 264 360 155 223 137 20 1 1,160 
			 North Yorkshire 56 30 12 35 18 10 3 164 
			 Nottinghamshire 22 25 8 20 12 1 1 89 
			 South Yorkshire 124 136 50 71 54 3 — 438 
			 Staffordshire 12 20 8 15 6 2 2 65 
			 Suffolk 2 2 1 6 2 1 — 14 
			 Surrey 14 12 8 11 18 8 2 73 
			 Sussex 65 52 35 53 33 9 3 250 
			 Thames Valley 13 15 3 3 12 2 — 48 
			 Warwickshire 8 4 2 2 1 — — 17 
			 West Mercia 30 19 14 15 9 3 — 90 
			 West Midlands 117 135 67 93 72 15 4 503 
			 West Yorkshire 112 126 63 105 64 8 — 478 
			 Wiltshire 9 8 2 6 6 3 — 34 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1 12 3 10 9 1 — 36 
			 Gwent 4 2 3 8 2 2 — 21 
			 North Wales 48 32 14 40 21 11 1 167 
			 South Wales 8 15 12 10 13 2 — 60 
			  
			 British Transport Police 7 11 8 36 22 8 2 94 
			  
			 England and Wales 1,836 2,074 999 1,630 1,135 216 40 7,930 
			 (1) Data include the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Being found drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises—Licensing Act 1872, section 12; Being guilty while drunk of disorderly behaviour—Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 91. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Asylum

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which benefits in  (a) cash and  (b) kind his Department provides for asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their case who are (i) single, (ii) accompanied by their spouse or partner, (iii) have a partner and one child, (iv) have a partner and two children and (v) have a partner and three children.

Phil Woolas: Under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 asylum seekers and their dependants are not permitted to access the mainstream system of welfare benefits.
	Asylum seekers and their dependants who need support to avoid destitution are given it by the UK Border Agency from the time they arrive in the UK until their claim is fully determined. Support takes the form of subsistence, accommodation or both.
	Accommodation is fully furnished and includes all utilities and council tax payment. It is provided through a series of target contracts which the UK Border Agency has entered into with both public and private sector accommodation providers.
	From 6 July 2009, levels of subsistence support will be per week £35.13 for a single asylum seeker aged 18 to 24 or £42.16 for a single asylum seeker aged over 25; £69.57 for an asylum seeker accompanied by a spouse or partner; £120.38 for an asylum seeker with a partner and one child under 16; £171.19 for an asylum seeker with a partner and two children under 16; £222.00 for an asylum seeker with a partner and three children under 16
	From 5 October 2009, all new single applicants without children will receive £35.13 a week regardless of age.
	The regulations updating asylum support rates were laid before Parliament on 11 June 2009.

Asylum

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of legacy asylum applications which will be decided by the 2011 target date.

Phil Woolas: The previous Home Secretary informed Parliament in July 2006 of
	"the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's case load of around 400,000 to 450,000 electronic and paper records, which as hon. Members also know, are riddled with duplication and errors, and include cases of individuals who have since died or left the country, or are now EU citizens."
	She committed to tackling this case load in five years or less. The Case Resolution Directorate have made good progress and remain committed and on track to conclude these cases by summer 2011.

Asylum Seekers: Detention of Children

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children aged 16 years and under were detained in each asylum and immigration centre in each month in each of the last two years.

Alan Johnson: Statistics on persons (including children) entering detention held solely under Immigration Act powers in the first two quarters of 2009 will be published for the first time in August 2009 in the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom—Q2 2009 and on a quarterly basis thereafter. Copies of this bulletin will be available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	Information outside this time period is not available.

Asylum: Families

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an assessment of the merits of granting children who have remained in their country of origin while their parents have claimed asylum in the UK the right to join their parents in circumstances in which their parents are unable to return to their country of origin; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: There are no provisions under the immigrations rules which allow the family members of an asylum seeker to apply for entry clearance to join an individual here in the United Kingdom (UK) while an asylum claim is pending.
	The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) recognise that families become fragmented because of the speed and manner in which a person seeking asylum has fled to the UK, therefore we allow dependants arriving at a later date to be added to a main applicants asylum claim, providing an initial decision has not yet been made on the asylum claim.
	Where an individual's claim for asylum has been successful, their minor children may apply for immediate family reunion under paragraph 352D of the immigration rules.

Asylum: Families

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an assessment of the merits of extending the right to automatic family reunion to people claiming asylum from persecution who are granted the right to live in the UK under the Legacy programme; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: From 30 August 2005 individuals qualifying for asylum, including those qualifying under the Legacy programme, are normally granted five years limited leave to remain (LTR). Individuals who qualified for asylum prior to this date were granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR).
	The family reunion provisions contained in Paragraph 352A-FI of the immigration rules, allows individuals granted asylum (either five years LTR or ILR) and those benefiting from a grant of five years humanitarian protection (HP) to sponsor an application for family reunion immediately, upon their grant of leave.
	The right to sponsor an application under family reunion provisions will fall away once the sponsor has obtained their British Citizenship and family members will be expected to apply under the general settlement rules, laid out in part 8 of the immigration rules.

Asylum: Families

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an assessment of the merits of granting children who have remained in their country of origin and who have reached the age of 18 years in the period during which their parents have been seeking asylum in the UK, the right to join their parents in the UK on the settlement of their parents' asylum claim if they turn 18 during the period in which the claim is being settled; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Family reunion is intended to allow family members (that is, those who formed the part of the family unit prior to the time that the sponsor fled to seek protection) to reunite with their sponsors who are recognised refugees or are benefiting from humanitarian protection (post 30 August 2005) in the UK.
	Only pre-existing families are eligible for family reunion under the provisions of the Immigration Rules, paragraph 352A-FI, that is the spouse, civil partner, unmarried/same sex partner and minor children who formed part of the family unit at the time the sponsor fled to seek asylum.
	Family members who do not meet the requirements of the family reunion provisions may still be considered for family reunion if compassionate and compelling circumstances exist. Each case is considered on its individual merits.

British Nationality

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted UK citizenship in each of the last four quarters for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The latest quarterly figures were published in Table 4b in the 'Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom—First Quarter 2009' available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/immiq109.pdf
	A copy of the table follows:
	
		
			  Table 4b: Grants of British citizenship in the United Kingdom by basis of grant and refusal, Q4 2006 to Q1 2009 
			Grants by basis of grant  
			   Total grants  Residence  Marriage  Minor Children  Other  Total refusals 
			 2006 Q4 36,465 19,675 5,360 10,200 1,235 3,295 
			 2007 Q1 44,610 24,230 6,620 11,970 1,790 4,185 
			 2007 Q2 40,370 21,250 7,250 10,265 1,610 3,155 
			 2007 Q3 43,770 23,590 8,955 9,730 1,485 4,170 
			 2007 Q4 35,890 18,715 7,600 8,565 1,010 4,115 
			 2008 Q1 34,875 18,220 7,685 8,115 855 2,575 
			 2008 Q2 23,325 10,575 4,460 7,230 1,060 1,860 
			 2008 Q3 32,220 16,185 8,005 7,040 995 2,310 
			 2008 Q4 38,955 20,735 8,925 8,450 845 2,340 
			 2009 Q1 54,615 27,720 13,455 12,545 890 2,715 
		
	
	Data for quarter two are scheduled for publication on 27th August 2009 and will be available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Cyber Security

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to ensure that measures adopted to protect cyber security respect human rights.

David Hanson: As with all national security activity, it is vital that government powers are used proportionately and in a way that is consistent with individual liberty. The UK's Cyber Security Strategy sets out in unambiguous terms the need to preserve and protect the rights to which we are accustomed, and to build a strong ethical foundation for activity to provide security in and through cyber space. As part of the cross-Government programme of cyber security work announced on 25 June 2009, the Government will establish an Ethics Advisory Committee to advise on this issue and the House will be updated on its membership.

Cyber Security

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Cyber Security Operations Centre will work in cooperation with the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

David Hanson: The Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) will be established to bring together existing multi-agency efforts to provide situational awareness, analysis and incident response co-ordination in the cyber security field. It will coordinate its activities internationally with appropriate allied organisations and, where appropriate, enable the enhancement of existing departmental linkages.
	The United Kingdom is fully supportive of this Estonian-hosted Cyber Defence initiative and their endeavours in this important area. As a NATO accredited entity, the MOD has acted as the UK's interface to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, providing participation in events sponsored by the Centre and specific mutually beneficial workstreams.

Cyber Security

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how he plans to improve knowledge of cyber security among  (a) citizens,  (b) businesses and  (c) other Government departments;
	(2)  how he plans to reduce the impact of cyber operations on UK interests;
	(3)  how he plans to reduce the vulnerability of UK interests to cyber warfare operations;
	(4)  how he plans to reduce the likelihood of potential adversaries launching a cyber attack against the UK;
	(5)  what steps he plans to take to involve  (a) members of the public,  (b) business and  (c) international partners in the cyber security strategy;
	(6)  what recent discussions he had with cyber security experts from higher education institutions on implementing the cyber security strategy.

David Hanson: The Government's Cyber Security Strategy, published last month, announced new governance structures and a cross-government programme of work in pursuit of the UK's strategic cyber security objectives. These objectives include reducing the risks and exploiting the opportunities from our use of cyber space through improving knowledge, capabilities and decision-making.
	These objectives will be delivered through eight new workstreams, overseen by the Office of Cyber Security and supported by the Cyber Security Operations Centre:
	Workstream 1: Safe, secure and Resilient Systems
	Workstream 2: Policy, Doctrine, Legal and Regulatory Issues
	Workstream 3: Awareness and Culture Change
	Workstream 4: Skills and Education
	Workstream 5: Technical Capabilities and Research and Development
	Workstream 6: Exploitation
	Workstream 7: International Engagement
	Workstream 8: Governance, Roles and Responsibilities
	These workstreams will build on existing work to take forward the Government's plans for reducing the impact on and vulnerability of the UK's interests from cyber attacks. They also describe how the Government would improve knowledge and awareness of the issues and the range of stakeholders who will be involved in the process, including the public.
	As the Strategy makes clear, this programme will be delivered through a partnership approach comprising Government, organisations across all sectors, and the public.

Departmental Contracts

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts let by his Department were awarded to businesses with fewer than 50 employees in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of such contracts was in each such year.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report and is working to achieve these. It has the ability to identify Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on its system and currently has 1,883 registered.
	The Department does not capture company size information in relation to number of employees below that of the definition of SMEs, which are enterprises that employ fewer than 250 employees.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of staff at each pay band in his Department and its agencies had been  (a) suspended on full pay and  (b) on sick pay for (i) over 12 months, (ii) six to 12 months and (iii) three to six months at the latest date for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: There are currently 26,099 staff in the Home Office and its agencies. Of those 26,000:
	 (a) 93 are suspended on full pay
	 (b) (i) None have been on paid sickness absence for more that 12 months. Home Office policy is to cease paying staff whose sickness absence exceeds 12 months. (ii) Fewer than 178 have been on paid sickness absence for between six and 12 months. (iii) Fewer than 651 have been on paid sickness absence for between three and six months.
	Detailed breakdowns of suspensions and sickness absences by pay band are attached. It is not possible to provide precise answers to  (b) (ii) and (iii) as the detailed breakdown by pay band includes groups of fewer than five. In those cases further information is withheld on grounds of confidentiality.
	
		
			  Table  ( a ) : questions (i) over 12 months (ii) six to 12 months and ( iii) three to six months 
			   Home Office (including its agencies) 
			  Grade  Over 12 months  6 to  12 months  3  to  6 months 
			 AA (1) — 0 (1) — 
			 AO 8 5 14 
			 EO 16 8 20 
			 G6 0 0 0 
			 G7 (1) — 0 (1) — 
			 HEO (1) — (1) — 6 
			 SCS 0 0 0 
			 SEO 0 (1) — 0 
			 (1) Fewer than five  Notes: 1. The table includes all suspensions within the UK Border Agency, as UKBA do not centrally hold information on whether staff were suspended on full pay. 2. Where fewer than five members of staff have been suspended, further information has been withheld on confidentiality grounds. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (b) (ii) Home Office staff paid sickness absences accrued 6 to 12 months 
			  Grade  Home Department 
			 AA 26 
			 AO 59 
			 EO 55 
			 HEO 27 
			 SEO 6 
			 G7 (1) — 
			 G6 0 
			 SCS 0 
			 (1 )Fewer than five 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (b) (iii) Home Office staff paid sickness absences accrued 3 to 6 months 
			  Grade  Home Department 
			 AA 98 
			 AO 247 
			 EO 203 
			 HEO 57 
			 SEO 26 
			 G7 12 
			 G6 (1) __ 
			 SCS (1) __ 
			 (1) Fewer than five  Notes: 1. Figures represent number of staff whose total sick absences during the period accrued to the relevant duration in each table  2. Period covered—1 June 2008 to 31 May 2009  Source: Home Office Dataview May 2009

Departmental Nurseries

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what crèche facilities his Department provides for its employees working in Whitehall.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 25 June 2009
	The Home Office does not provide crèche (nursery) facilities for its staff. The Department does however operate a Childcare Voucher Salary Sacrifice Scheme which is open to all staff at all locations. In addition Home Office staff are able to use the Westminster holiday playscheme at subsidised rates. This scheme is run during the school holidays for children aged between four-12 and provision is shared by a number of Government Departments.
	In addition to childcare support the Home Office also has in place a range of policies to help staff who are working parents balance work and home. These include enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity pay, flexible working patterns, for example, part time working and job sharing as well as special paid and unpaid leave provision.

Departmental Official Cars

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2009 , Official Report, columns 1639-40W, on official cars, how many of the cars  (a) owned and  (b) leased by (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies are over six years old.

Phil Woolas: The four cars are owned by UKBA.
	Cars leased by the Home Department and its executive agencies are usually returned to the lease company at or shortly after three years.

Departmental Procurement

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department is fully participating in the work and has representation on the boards of the cross-departmental projects set up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Office of Government Commerce for the implementation of the Glover Report recommendations.
	The Home Department's progress on the implementation of the report's recommendations includes:
	(a) investment in a Procurement and Commercial Toolset which enables the electronic advertisement of contract opportunities through a free online portal;
	(b) migration of tender documentation to a system to issue all tender documentation electronically by 2010;
	(c) work is on target for the online publication in standard format of details of contract awardees by 2010;
	(d) completion of work so that the Department can clearly identify its SME suppliers and report monthly on its prompt payment performance for these suppliers. SME prompt payment performance for June 2009 is 99 per cent. of all payments made being within agreed terms;
	(e) completion of work so that the Department is able to identify its SME community. Currently there are 1,883 SME suppliers who supply 25 per cent. of total invoices received each month.
	In addition to implementation of the recommendations, the Department has recognised SMEs for the second year running in its annual Supplier Value Awards Programme. Work is proceeding with several SMEs on a number of strategically important tasks such as the approach to corporate social responsibility.

Deportation: Prisoners

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much compensation has been awarded to foreign national prisoners held in custody beyond the expiry of their sentence while awaiting deportation in each month in each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 14 July 2009
	A breakdown of compensation paid by the UK Border Agency to foreign national prisoners held in custody beyond the expiry of their sentence made from April 2008 to June 2009 is outlined in the following table:
	
		
			  Month/year  £ 
			 April 2008 36,500.00 
			 May 2008 36,590.00 
			 June 2008 7,500.00 
			 July 2008 78,500.00 
			 August 2008 25,000.00 
			 September 2008 24,000.00 
			 October 2008 19,000.00 
			 November 2008 41,329.29 
			 December 2008 15,000.00 
			   
			 January 2009 750.00 
			 February 2009 54,500.00 
			 March 2009 67,727.92 
			 April 2009 54,500.00 
			 May 2009 20,000.00 
			 June 2009 18,000.00 
			 Total 498,897.21 
		
	
	A breakdown of the monthly compensation figures of foreign national prisoners before April 2008 is unavailable.

Deportation: Zimbabwe

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's policy is on deporting people to Zimbabwe.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 10 June 2009
	We keep our policy on enforced returns to Zimbabwe under constant review. Since the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal RN country guidance judgment last November, all cases are being reviewed on a case-by- case basis. Those asylum seekers deemed to need protection will be granted it. Where the independent courts have confirmed that it is safe for an individual to return home, we do not consider that it is right to ask the UK taxpayer to support them. Instead we expect those not at risk to return home and hundreds of Zimbabweans have done so since we halted the enforced return of failed asylum seekers in September 2006. Any failed asylum seeker who is unable to return home through no fault of their own can apply for support.

Driving Offences: Insurance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in each police authority area were found to be driving  (a) without a licence,  (b) without insurance,  (c) under the influence of drink and  (d) under the influence of drugs in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: Data on the number of defendants found guilty for the offences requested, covering 1998 to 2007 (latest available), are provided in tables 1 to 3 below:
	
		
			 Table 1: Findings of guilt at all courts for the offence Driving, or causing or permitting another person to drive other than in accordance with licence, in England and Wales, by police force area, 1998-2007(1,2) 
			  Number of offences 
			  Police force area  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 5,215 4,970 5,451 4,896 5,778 6,517 7,120 5,612 4,779 3,455 
			 Bedfordshire 1,354 1,121 1,242 1,661 1,835 1,960 1,933 2,006 1,752 1,358 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,105 1,008 1,143 1,043 1,265 1,399 1,591 1,656 1,836 1,285 
			 Cheshire 1,834 2,047 2,350 2,261 2,738 3,236 3,224 2,287 1,967 2,091 
			 Cleveland 1,623 1,786 2,100 2,304 2,871 2,551 3,463 2,439 2,243 1,454 
			 Cumbria 1,459 1,538 1,470 1,592 1,532 1,554 1,641 1,114 1,032 903 
			 Derbyshire 1,761 1,896 2,204 2,466 2,774 2,800 3,679 3,589 2,496 2,441 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,766 1,932 2,658 2,699 3,205 3,469 3,350 2,639 2,629 2,113 
			 Dorset 1,132 1,396 1,614 1,645 1,915 2,350 1,954 1,912 1,679 1,179 
			 Durham 1,753 2,665 2,430 2,791 2,934 2,885 2,514 1,785 1,343 1,403 
			 Essex 1,991 2,348 2,809 2,840 2,832 2,945 3,000 3,156 3,027 3,169 
			 Gloucestershire 1,488 1,630 1,527 1,547 1,245 1,370 1,341 1,238 1,096 989 
			 Greater Manchester 12,423 14,407 15,103 17,500 18,207 20,043 18,852 15,896 12,941 9,051 
			 Hampshire 3,869 4,331 4,094 4,166 4,802 4,717 4,526 3,754 3,046 3,085 
			 Hertfordshire 1,333 1,351 1,813 2,092 2,594 3,211 3,406 3,629 3,283 2,387 
			 Humberside 1,818 2,137 2,235 2,075 2,107 2,660 2,763 2,645 2,664 1,956 
			 Kent 2,022 1,771 3,195 3,770 4,245 4,575 5,197 4,281 3,769 2,825 
			 Lancashire 6,333 6,230 6,717 5,978 6,998 8,773 6,538 7,402 5,785 4,813 
			 Leicestershire 3,257 3,811 3,708 3,874 4,245 4,951 4,889 3,302 2,689 1,785 
			 Lincolnshire 1,830 2,064 1,958 1,758 1,810 2,468 3,050 2,281 2,103 1,363 
			 London, City of 698 596 407 481 707 946 830 848 907 695 
			 Mersey side 4,291 4,086 4,892 4,630 5,533 7,094 6,961 5,787 3,619 4,350 
			 Metropolitan Police 11,424 11,129 11,332 12,806 15,403 19,486 24,210 24,725 25,063 24,614 
			 Norfolk 1,288 1,419 1,296 1,465 1,754 2,367 2,092 1,799 1,365 1,356 
			 Northamptonshire 1,519 2,335 1,665 856 458 1,946 3,051 2,185 1,338 1,184 
			 Northumbria 4,607 5,441 5,598 5,654 5,774 6,206 5,864 5,972 5,463 4,315 
			 North Yorkshire 1,162 1,324 1,222 1,017 1,017 1,201 1,271 1,194 1,196 1,031 
			 Nottinghamshire 3,341 3,201 3,415 3,622 3,563 4,648 4,935 4,151 3,235 3,011 
			 South Yorkshire 3,913 4,639 4,808 5,740 6,065 5,734 4,937 5,156 4,511 3,066 
			 Staffordshire 2,683 3,140 3,970 2,645 3,190 3,513 3,948 3,710 3,073 2,314 
			 Suffolk 952 1,182 1,093 1,320 1,554 1,977 1,994 1,479 1,234 1,016 
			 Surrey 742 1,020 1,196 1,354 1,509 1,295 1,490 1,541 1,359 2,004 
			 Sussex 1,925 2,028 1,943 2,057 1,900 1,817 1,654 1,739 1,899 1,931 
			 Thames Valley 2,953 3,928 4,069 3,952 4,778 5,619 5,488 4,827 4,638 4,050 
			 Warwickshire 1,202 1,110 1,233 1,365 1,356 1,775 2,259 1,986 1,685 1,444 
			 West Mercia 3,017 3,033 3,130 3,441 3,462 3,639 3,616 3,590 3,233 2,446 
			 West Midlands 10,847 9,541 11,371 11,446 14,760 17,729 20,070 16,268 14,693 10,023 
			 West Yorkshire 7,308 7,991 8,299 9,363 8,457 11,191 14,631 11,613 9,166 6,565 
			 Wiltshire 1,087 1,083 1,265 1,889 1,760 1,770 1,672 1,632 1,510 993 
			 England 120,375 128,669 138,025 144,061 158,992 184,389 195,026 174,825 152,448 125,738 
			
			 Dyfed Powys 892 967 1,005 933 1,176 1,180 872 980 807 788 
			 Gwent 1,743 1,900 2,113 2,150 2,156 1,857 1,644 1,450 1,396 1,008 
			 North Wales 1,698 1,622 1,552 1,382 1,733 2,690 2,866 2,009 2,229 1,758 
			 South Wales 5,934 6,277 6,281 5,665 6,853 6,732 6,632 5,171 4,420 3,231 
			 Wales 10,267 10,766 10,951 10,130 11,918 12,459 12,014 9,610 8,852 6,785 
			
			 England and Wales 130,642 139,435 148,976 154,191 170,910 196,848 207,040 184,435 161,300 132,523 
			 (1) It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings In particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations a are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: The Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Evidence and Analysis Unit 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Findings of guilt at all courts for offences for offences of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, in England and Wales, by police force area, 1998 to 2007( 1,2) 
			  Number of offences 
			  Police force area  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 9,945 9,419 9,578 8,455 9,766 10,633 10,925 8,741 7,483 5,874 
			 Bedfordshire 3,007 2,337 2,323 2,916 3,184 3,524 3,220 3,371 3,168 2,682 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,526 2,250 2,226 1,989 2,298 2,728 2,678 2,854 3,456 2,631 
			 Cheshire 3,701 3,892 4,110 3,927 4,600 5,414 5,412 3,925 3,844 4,336 
			 Cleveland 2,939 3,058 3,597 3,643 4,325 4,017 5,124 3,851 3,410 2,352 
			 Cumbria 2,888 2,780 2,699 2,906 2,888 2,868 2,764 2,208 2,103 2,154 
			 Derbyshire 3,559 3,651 3,945 4,261 4,736 4,956 5,557 5,238 3,874 4,492 
			 Devon and Cornwall 4,301 4,710 5,890 5,742 6,380 6,635 6,217 5,259 5,371 4,786 
			 Dorset 2,792 3,021 3,548 2,986 3,388 4,276 3,634 3,594 3,222 2,638 
			 Durham 3,103 4,488 4,338 4,361 4,632 4,535 4,065 3,212 2,460 2,610 
			 Essex 4,672 5,061 5,356 5,417 5,401 5,487 5,368 5,459 5,373 5,759 
			 Gloucestershire 2,903 2,876 2,548 2,692 2,297 2,599 2,451 2,064 1,889 1,825 
			 Greater Manchester 21,620 23,842 24,020 26,600 27,805 29,827 26,939 23,087 20,472 15,658 
			 Hampshire 8,071 8,157 7,578 7,677 8,135 8,148 7,509 6,291 5,390 5,369 
			 Hertfordshire 3,072 2,805 3,332 3,691 4,214 5,099 5,401 5,735 5,876 4,558 
			 Humberside 3,535 3,943 4,065 3,657 3,576 4,460 4,348 4,181 4,443 2,855 
			 Kent 4,849 4,261 6,431 7,063 7,722 7,485 8,377 7,073 7,079 6,277 
			 Lancashire 11,274 10,857 11,054 9,812 11,107 13,770 10,011 11,016 9,487 8,637 
			 Leicestershire 6,289 7,312 6,752 6,849 7,435 8,114 7,822 5,379 4,370 3,173 
			 Lincolnshire 3,478 3,758 3,321 2,970 3,070 4,298 4,781 3,921 3,883 2,893 
			 London, City of 1,431 1,141 777 1,021 1,333 1,606 1,125 1,070 1,130 907 
			 Merseyside 7,791 6,995 7,813 7,794 8,688 10,756 10,555 8,906 6,673 7,567 
			 Metropolitan Police 23,048 21,033 20,247 22,677 27,307 31,703 36,707 36,242 37,280 38,214 
			 Norfolk 3,066 3,020 2,851 3,040 3,610 4,486 3,750 3,456 3,187 2,790 
			 Northamptonshire 3,288 4,178 2,998 1,643 913 3,261 4,671 3,621 3,126 2,067 
			 Northumbria 8,138 9,356 9,430 9,251 9,364 9,904 9,159 9,417 8,697 7,306 
			 North Yorkshire 2,577 2,679 2,572 2,216 2,124 2,369 2,537 2,592 2,323 2,430 
			 Nottinghamshire 6,710 6,205 6,082 6,261 6,005 7,730 7,833 6,372 5,170 4,886 
			 South Yorkshire 7,918 8,512 8,956 10,163 10,101 9,966 8,571 8,546 7,924 5,996 
			 Staffordshire 5,444 5,767 6,760 4,723 5,764 6,128 6,370 6,018 5,439 4,373 
			 Suffolk 2,288 2,557 2,330 2,387 2,862 3,594 3,548 2,744 2,509 2,026 
			 Surrey 2,056 2,285 2,577 2,826 3,158 2,900 2,604 2,886 2,724 3,898 
			 Sussex 4,165 4,220 3,808 4,016 3,730 3,694 3,102 3,401 3,802 3,994 
			 Thames Valley 6,351 7,315 7,456 7,128 8,334 9,760 9,208 7,931 7,640 7,116 
			 Warwickshire 2,410 2,205 2,316 2,672 2,395 2,905 3,438 2,970 2,993 2,461 
			 West Mercia 5,666 5,238 5,542 5,766 S,858 6,051 5,540 5,642 5,715 4,458 
			 West Midlands 19,144 16,495 18,010 18,221 22,202 25,557 27,734 25,108 21,612 15,517 
			 West Yorkshire 14,875 16,105 15,649 15,934 14,043 17,101 20,308 16,344 13,832 10,048 
			 Wiltshire 2,719 2,564 2,625 3,281 3,170 3,022 2,794 2,828 2,797 1,922 
			 England 237,609 240,348 245,510 248,634 267,920 301,366 302,157 272,553 251,226 219,535 
			
			 Dyfed Powys 1,964 2,050 2,076 1,914 2,293 2,243 1,650 1,897 1,753 1,728 
			 Gwent 3,363 3,470 3,808 3,836 3,676 3,465 2,980 2,774 2,682 2,001 
			 North Wales 3,323 3,104 2,848 2,565 3,003 4,542 4,797 3,348 3,979 2,940 
			 South Wales 10,715 10,550 10,335 9,809 11,607 11,756 11,232 8,776 8,033 6,607 
			 Wales 19,365 19,174 19,067 18,124 20,579 22,006 20,659 16,795 16,447 13,276 
			
			 England and Wales 256,974 259,522 264,577 266,758 288,499 323,372 322,816 289,348 267,673 232,811 
			 (1) It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, It is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: The Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Findings of guilt at all courts for offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1) , in England and Wales, by police force area, 1998 to 2007( 2,3) 
			  Number of offences 
			  Police force area  1998  1999  2000( 4)  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,566 2,728 2,462 2,197 2,401 2,666 2,692 2,595 2,457 2,490 
			 Bedfordshire 1,060 869 797 914 955 1,072 1,028 1,050 1,152 1,064 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,060 941 793 813 852 933 1,083 1,214 1,268 1,240 
			 Cheshire 1,903 1,827 1,652 1,529 1,993 1,905 2,128 1,709 1,866 1,804 
			 Cleveland 870 811 777 887 921 981 1,071 959 1,032 948 
			 Cumbria 856 871 806 761 768 843 907 853 859 868 
			 Derbyshire 1,547 1,463 1,417 1,411 1,465 1,617 1,874 1,645 1,520 1,466 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,265 2,277 2,199 2,369 2,441 2,667 2,560 2,446 2,336 2,247 
			 Dorset 1,186 1,120 1,115 1,150 1,199 1,264 1,239 1,207 1,156 1,191 
			 Durham 1,035 1,137 1,124 1,097 1,136 1,170 1,277 1,168 1,002 1,051 
			 Essex 2,438 2,528 2,462 2,456 2,522 2,622 2,853 2,549 2,697 2,553 
			 Gloucestershire 985 889 804 865 926 890 913 834 812 725 
			 Greater Manchester 4,715 4,850 4,801 4,715 4,720 4,743 4,811 4,653 4,570 4,462 
			 Hampshire 3,597 3,725 3,472 3,464 3,846 3,663 3,743 3,372 2,993 2,974 
			 Hertfordshire 1,672 1,679 1,552 1,666 1,894 1,904 1,881 1,836 1,860 1,830 
			 Humberside 1,358 1,323 1,371 1,259 1,395 1,445 1,623 1,592 1,518 1,071 
			 Kent 2,627 2,633 2,592 2,575 2,745 2,811 3,010 2,907 2,824 2,836 
			 Lancashire 2,945 3,010 2,584 2,304 2,599 2,652 2,706 2,723 2,775 2,756 
			 Leicestershire 1,485 1,624 1,531 1,546 1,659 1,725 1,754 1,631 1,512 1,520 
			 Lincolnshire 979 941 816 877 847 1,111 1,209 1,176 1,274 1,233 
			 London, City of 301 236 152 162 221 230 169 184 168 189 
			 Merseyside 2,451 2,137 2,123 2,195 2,293 2,687 2,849 2,964 2,737 2,541 
			 Metropolitan Police 13,889 12,414 11,801 11,260 12,905 12,621 13,227 12,887 13,075 12,237 
			 Norfolk 1,118 1,010 935 1,143 1,220 1,274 1,240 1,265 1,335 1,246 
			 Northamptonshire 1,062 1,058 782 399 236 799 922 853 1,016 879 
			 Northumbria 2,457 2,463 2,621 2,529 2,588 2,747 2,675 2,561 2,559 2,482 
			 North Yorkshire 1,205 1,124 1,073 1,066 1,119 1,194 1,131 1,244 1,261 1,194 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,804 1,802 1,722 1,598 1,420 1,644 1,669 1,626 1,699 1,517 
			 South Yorkshire 2,002 1,927 2,122 2,020 1,945 2,089 2,224 2,220 2,019 2,023 
			 Staffordshire 1,955 1,711 0 1,513 1,704 1,733 1,733 1,718 1,657 1,704 
			 Suffolk 1,042 1,089 902 920 1,105 1,213 1,332 1,103 1,158 1,058 
			 Surrey 1,328 1,417 1,539 1,592 1,614 1,464 1,425 1,503 1,413 1,517 
			 Sussex 2,113 2,224 2,112 2,358 2,306 2,430 2,368 2,379 2,475 2,479 
			 Thames Valley 3,896 3,725 3,496 3,275 4,317 3,884 3,539 3,474 3,419 3,356 
			 Warwickshire 784 856 786 880 841 918 845 871 895 994 
			 West Mercia 1,794 1,747 1,631 1,740 1,719 1,797 1,689 1,917 2,008 1,904 
			 West Midlands 5,582 4,775 4,559 4,914 5,050 5,233 5,584 5,693 5,554 5,483 
			 West Yorkshire 3,669 3,597 3,375 3,220 3,564 3,720 3,897 3,863 3,587 3,429 
			 Wiltshire 1,108 1,009 930 1,045 1,005 1,031 1,024 1,038 1,028 816 
			 England 86,709 83,567 77,788 78,684 84,456 87,392 89,904 87,482 86,546 83,377 
			
			 Dyfed Powys 995 944 858 867 927 995 986 932 927 906 
			 Gwent 1,203 1,079 1,211 1,152 1,074 1,149 1,188 1,129 1,188 1,097 
			 North Wales 1,306 1,248 1,332 1,227 1,270 1,326 1,349 1,364 1,335 1,297 
			 South Wales 2,903 2,526 2,757 2,812 2,761 2,840 2,811 2,811 2,675 2,546 
			 Wales 6,407 5,797 6,158 6,058 6,032 6,310 6,334 6,236 6,125 5,846 
			
			 England and Wales 93,116 89,364 83,946 84,742 90,488 93,702 96,238 93,718 92,671 89,223 
			 (1) Data provided cover summary offences of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs (which cannot be reliably distinguished separately). (2) It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source: The Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Entry Clearance Officers

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many entry clearance officers based in  (a) Pakistan and  (b) the Abu Dhabi visa hub are fluent in the (i) Punjabi and (ii) Pashto language.

Alan Johnson: In Pakistan, one entry clearance officer is fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
	24 locally engaged staff members are fluent in Punjabi and two are fluent in Pashto.
	82 members of Gerry's staff are fluent in Punjabi and seven are fluent in Pashto.
	In Abu Dhabi, four entry clearance officers are fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
	Two locally engaged staff members are fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
	One VFS staff member is fluent in Punjabi and none are fluent in Pashto.
	Applicants are required to provide certified translations of any documents that are not in English. Visa application forms have to be submitted in English. As a result, there is only a limited requirement for interpretation into local languages which can be satisfied through our locally-engaged staff.

Entry Clearances

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in  (a) the London Borough of Hillingdon,  (b) Greater London and  (c) England applied for leave to remain in the UK outside of immigration rules in each of the last five years; and how many did not have valid leave to remain at the time of their application.

Phil Woolas: UKBA is only able to provide the total number of applications received outside of the immigration rules over the past five years.
	To further breakdown the information as requested UKBA would have to:
	(a) accurately determine the applicant's geographical location. This would involve trawling each application, validating the applicant's postcode, and cross-matching this with a list of postcodes for the London borough of Hillingdon.
	(b) review the applicant's previous immigration history, including determining if the individual had valid leave to remain at the time of application(s). This would involve trawling each application, reviewing any previous applications made to the Home Office to determine if the applicant's leave to remain was valid at the time of application(s).
	The reasons above demonstrate why the further breakdown of information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Leave to remain (LTR): Number of applications received in the UK by UKBA outside of the immigration rules 
			   Number 
			 2004-05 3,206 
			 2005-06 4,179 
			 2006-07 5,760 
			 2007-08 6,196 
			 2008-09 2,047

Entry Clearances: Complaints

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints each visa hub has received on the issue of visas to applicants in each of the last three years.

Alan Johnson: The United Kingdom Border Agency and its predecessor UKvisas received and recorded 1,623 complaints globally relating to visa matters in 2008. UKvisas did not centrally collate this information before 2008.
	To obtain further information would be at disproportionate cost. Due to the reduction of visa issuing posts during this time, it is not possible to break figures down by post.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the number of foreign students enrolled at colleges not listed on the UK Border Agency's Accreditation list; and what assessment he has made of how this affects their immigration status.

Phil Woolas: Information on the number of foreign students currently enrolled at colleges which have not been granted a sponsorship licence is not held centrally and could be obtained only by investigating individual case files.
	Students may continue to study at colleges which have not been granted a sponsorship licence until their current period of leave lapses. Their immigration status will be affected if they wish to seek further leave as a student. To qualify they will be required to meet the full requirements of the new rules including providing evidence that they are sponsored by a college which has been granted a licence by the UK Border Agency. Details of the new rules can be found at:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/pbs/Tier4migrantguidance.pdf
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/quickguideforstudent

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas students of each  (a) age,  (b) sex and  (c) nationality have been granted visas to study in the UK in each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: Please see the following table in relation to how many overseas students of each  (a) age,  (b) sex and  (c) nationality have been granted visas to study in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Sum of student visas issued 
			  Nationality  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Afghanistan 59 80 135 101 78 
			 Albania 275 321 465 558 239 
			 Algeria 319 265 391 512 334 
			 Andorra — 1 4 4 1 
			 Angola 279 332 389 431 211 
			 Anguilla — — — — — 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 7 10 22 20 31 
			 Argentina 139 190 197 221 211 
			 Armenia 128 137 201 192 88 
			 Australia 775 743 758 875 1,030 
			 Austria — — — 1 — 
			 Azerbaijan 449 489 521 614 238 
			 Bahamas 39 81 91 85 74 
			 Bahrain 585 555 630 640 592 
			 Bangladesh 2,406 2,988 3,544 3,653 3,253 
			 Barbados 107 176 163 136 131 
			 Belarus 578 741 753 897 239 
			 Belgium — — — 1 — 
			 Belize 5 15 18 18 15 
			 Benin 26 38 38 26 22 
			 Bermuda — 1 1 — — 
			 Bhutan 18 14 19 16 12 
			 Bolivia 93 116 134 100 88 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 167 170 142 140 71 
			 Botswana 254 240 329 410 327 
			 Brazil 623 4,612 3,216 3,868 4,671 
			 British Citizen 3 2 2 1 3 
			 British Dependent Territories Citizen — — — 1 1 
			 British National Overseas 3,831 3,343 3,082 2,824 2,690 
			 British Overseas Citizen 4 6 7 4 6 
			 British Protected Person — — — — — 
			 British Subject 1 — — — — 
			 Brunei 424 536 660 903 961 
			 Bulgaria 698 621 735 1 1 
			 Burkina 20 19 18 10 20 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 243 358 304 400 337 
			 Burundi 11 6 8 11 6 
			 Cambodia 38 32 33 45 33 
			 Cameroon 418 447 458 542 308 
			 Canada 2,223 2,457 2,559 2,919 3,343 
			 Cape Verde 8 9 2 51 9 
			 Cayman Islands — 2 — 1 1 
			 Central African Republic 9 1 4 6 3 
			 Chad 12 8 8 15 5 
			 Chile 200 254 337 415 407 
			 China 22,333 18,312 21,239 24,944 27,879 
			 Colombia 2,616 2,808 3,089 4,497 5,479 
			 Comoros 3 5 3 1 — 
			 Congo 96 54 63 88 52 
			 Costa Rica 1 17 22 30 32 
			 Croatia 706 821 210 192 194 
			 Cuba 44 48 60 59 38 
			 Cyprus 126 49 23 17 20 
			 Czech Republic 53 1 — — — 
			 Democratic Republic Of Congo 55 55 60 67 44 
			 Djibouti 6 8 9 14 3 
			 Dominica 14 33 31 19 18 
			 Dominican Republic 31 33 40 44 50 
			 Ecuador 426 410 452 498 335 
			 Egypt 530 576 1,260 1,201 790 
			 El Salvador 7 20 17 11 12 
			 Equatorial Guinea 10 14 13 40 40 
			 Eritrea 30 18 18 10 3 
			 Estonia 3 — — — — 
			 Ethiopia 160 152 129 132 113 
			 Fiji 14 18 14 18 15 
			 Gabon 39 33 46 48 23 
			 Gambia 458 430 428 384 503 
			 Georgia 598 527 630 796 441 
			 Germany — — 2 1 — 
			 Ghana 1,963 1,157 1,107 922 791 
			 Gibraltar — — — — — 
			 Greece — — — 2 — 
			 Grenada 19 42 43 31 38 
			 Guatemala 10 20 17 19 26 
			 Guinea 99 87 82 59 39 
			 Guinea-Bissau 13 7 22 14 6 
			 Guyana 78 88 89 72 55 
			 Haiti 15 14 14 12 8 
			 Honduras 1 12 9 15 10 
			 Hong Kong 2,080 2,027 2,337 2,583 2,871 
			 Hungary 1 1 — — — 
			 Iceland — 1 — — 2 
			 India 17,620 19,237 22,240 22,709 28,586 
			 Indonesia 869 716 665 701 743 
			 Iran 1,407 1,487 2,018 2,280 2,402 
			 Iraq 128 195 375 417 363 
			 Ireland — 1 — — — 
			 Israel 663 2,021 728 319 326 
			 Italy — — — 1 1 
			 Ivory Coast 234 138 147 137 74 
			 Jamaica 255 224 187 203 151 
			 Japan 8,849 8,623 8,175 7,018 5,684 
			 Jordan 944 861 1,022 985 821 
			 Kazakhstan 4,385 4,960 6,257 4,667 1,621 
			 Kenya 1,103 885 970 924 1,017 
			 Kiribati — 2 1 — — 
			 Korea (North) 13 7 4 3 3 
			 Kosovo — — — — 5 
			 Kuwait 779 731 823 1,144 1,134 
			 Kyrgyzstan 248 247 373 323 161 
			 Laos 11 16 4 5 5 
			 Latvia 5 — — 1 — 
			 Lebanon 415 396 396 342 302 
			 Lesotho 12 8 24 10 7 
			 Liberia 10 9 6 14 12 
			 Libya 2,567 2,950 3,871 2,418 3,640 
			 Lithuania 17 — — 1 — 
			 Macau 32 83 89 105 133 
			 Macedonia 146 216 178 212 177 
			 Madagascar 25 32 26 25 21 
			 Malawi 242 564 371 588 251 
			 Malaysia 4,853 4,618 4,645 5,473 5,890 
			 Maldives 12 85 90 86 87 
			 Mali 33 16 26 41 32 
			 Malta 5 — — — — 
			 Mauritania 15 21 30 33 20 
			 Mauritius 1,357 1,553 1,224 943 816 
			 Mexico 1,066 1,259 1,346 1,543 1,494 
			 Micronesia — — — 1 — 
			 Moldova 269 190 216 126 98 
			 Monaco — 2 3 2 4 
			 Mongolia 194 198 291 981 313 
			 Montenegro — — — 1 30 
			 Morocco 564 398 455 389 297 
			 Mozambique 56 62 28 32 32 
			 Namibia 45 33 44 34 26 
			 Nauru — — — — — 
			 Nepal 442 607 801 1,112 653 
			 Netherlands — — — 1 — 
			 New Zealand 148 162 136 207 208 
			 Nicaragua 5 3 9 10 11 
			 Niger 17 18 14 20 7 
			 Nigeria 7,863 8,584 7,574 7,695 8,579 
			 Norway — — 1 — 1 
			 Oman 1,199 1,040 1,226 1,128 884 
			 Pakistan 14,017 9,346 12,497 9,589 6,628 
			 Palestinian Authority 90 80 114 92 2 
			 Panama 4 26 23 30 52 
			 Papua New Guinea 10 13 7 2 13 
			 Paraguay 7 12 19 25 14 
			 Peru 400 419 441 460 442 
			 Philippines 1,943 1,479 962 1,556 7,519 
			 Poland 7 — — — 1 
			 Portugal — — — — — 
			 Qatar 414 507 710 942 938 
			 Refugee (Art 1 1951 Convention) 20 11 10 8 5 
			 Romania 854 938 840 2 3 
			 Russia 10,289 13,109 22,326 22,744 3,757 
			 Rwanda 52 58 58 71 70 
			 San Marino 1 1 3 2 1 
			 Sao Tome and Principe 16 50 53 8 7 
			 Saudi Arabia 3,273 3,713 4,474 6,249 10,427 
			 Senegal 68 76 105 163 140 
			 Serbia — — — 42 27 
			 Seychelles 1 — 2 2 3 
			 Sierra Leone 240 219 275 211 134 
			 Singapore 1,016 884 1,053 1,004 1,262 
			 Slovakia 8 — 1 — — 
			 Slovenia 1 — — — — 
			 Solomon Islands 2 4 2 2 3 
			 Somalia 16 4 4 4 3 
			 South Africa 446 506 526 496 523 
			 South Korea 7,109 8,346 7,588 6,581 6,580 
			 Soviet Union 1 — — 1 — 
			 Spain — 1 — — — 
			 Sri Lanka 1,809 2,038 2,379 2,759 3,233 
			 St. Helena — — — — — 
			 St. Kitts and Nevis 10 13 16 14 12 
			 St. Lucia 40 98 84 70 74 
			 St. Vincent 14 50 64 43 36 
			 Stateless (Art 1 1951 Convention) 64 40 39 31 15 
			 Sudan 581 620 486 423 227 
			 Surinam 3 4 4 3 5 
			 Swaziland 39 28 20 22 12 
			 Sweden 1 — — — — 
			 Switzerland — — 2 — — 
			 Syria 643 748 2 883 686 394 
			 Taiwan 9,299 9,327 9,630 7,007 4,340 
			 Tajikistan 62 96 96 66 53 
			 Tanzania 809 902 1,061 914 936 
			 Thailand 5,142 4,900 5,339 5,236 4,518 
			 Togo 36 15 32 23 13 
			 Tonga — 5 3 6 3 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 392 440 450 491 401 
			 Tunisia 109 143 262 490 90 
			 Turkey 4,448 7,586 8,752 8,277 5,554 
			 Turkmenistan 257 458 217 175 203 
			 Turks and Caicos Islands — — — 1 — 
			 Tuvalu — 1 — — — 
			 Uganda 865 632 497 564 627 
			 Ukraine 1,835 1,272 1,751 1,857 753 
			 United Arab Emirates 1,280 1,114 1,170 1,168 1,251 
			 United Nations 4 1 3 11 8 
			 United States 8,713 8,938 9,250 11,317 14,981 
			 Unknown 367 327 310 422 491 
			 Uruguay 12 16 20 29 34 
			 Uzbekistan 51792 759 1,281 1,042 399 
			 Vanuatu 1 — — — — 
			 Venezuela 92 330 471 764 842 
			 Vietnam 1,404 1,414 1,554 1,907 1,921 
			 Western Samoa 2 3 — 1 — 
			 Yemen 349 272 297 289 296 
			 Yugoslavia 1,512 1,468 1,128 1,183 341 
			 Zambia 474 470 477 559 386 
			 Zimbabwe 796 791 490 371 238 
			 Grand total 189,520 196,893 219,676 222,425 208,383 
		
	
	This information will be published in the statistical bulletin in August 2009.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether regulations under Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system apply in the case of students who enter the UK for a study period of less than six months.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 6 July 2009
	Those wishing to come to the UK to study for a period of less than six months can choose whether to apply to enter under tier 4 of the points-based system or under the student visitor category. If they choose to apply under tier 4 of the points-based system they must be intending to study at an institution which is registered with the UKBA as a licensed tier 4 sponsor. In addition they must be enrolled on a course which leads at least to an approved qualification at level 3 or above of the National Qualifications Framework.
	Those wishing to come to study for a period of less than six months on a course which is below level 3 NVQ, can apply under the student visitor category. Short-term students (i.e. those studying on courses of six months duration or less) who do not intend to take part-time employment or undertake a paid or unpaid work placement as part of their course can also benefit from these provisions. The college at which the student intends to study must either be accredited by a UKBA approved accreditation body, or be an overseas higher education institution offering only part of their programmes in the United Kingdom, holding its own national accreditation and offering programmes that are of an equivalent level to a United Kingdom degree. These requirements prove the necessary assurance that the prospective student is coming to study at a bona fide educational establishment.
	Further information on the student visitor route is available at:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/studyingintheuk/student-visitors/

Extra-curricular Activities

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps his Department has taken to provide after-school activities for young people.

David Hanson: holding answer 20 July 2009
	£1 million funding was provided to the Tackling Knives Action Programme areas to deliver extra positive activities on Friday and Saturday nights in areas where crime, criminal gangs and antisocial behaviour are a concern. Monitoring information from these local areas shows that to the end of March more than 14,000 young people had benefited.
	Through the Open drive, Government are challenging local areas to provide activities when young people and the community want them, particularly on a Friday and Saturday night. In 2009-10 an additional £28 million has been provided to all local authorities through the Positive Activities for Young People programme with an emphasis on providing activities at these times.

Forensic Science Service

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many historic crimes were solved at each Forensic Science Service site in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: It is not the role of the Forensic Science Service to solve crime. Their job is to assist the police in providing intelligence that will assist with the investigation. It is a matter for police and the Crown Prosecution Service to decide the value of the intelligence, and for the courts to determine its weight as evidence.
	The FSS does not maintain records of the results of cases in which they have been involved.

Government Departments: Cybercrime

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent reports he has received on cyber attacks on government websites in  (a) South Korea and  (b) the US;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of cyber attacks against Government IT systems in each of the last three years; and how many such attacks originated outside the UK;
	(3)  what his most recent assessment is of the likelihood of cyberattack on the UK by another state; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The Government consider a range of information on such issues and takes appropriate steps where necessary. It would not be in the interests of national security to provide information about specified threats an attacks, either n terms of the type of threat, the method or the target, as this could aid potential adversaries.

Home Office Property Group: Manpower

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed in the Home Office Property Group; and what the staffing costs of the group were in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 20 July 2009
	In October 2006 Home Office restructured its Estates Management functions and created two internal shared service organisations which by October 2007 had reduced estates staff by just over 45 per cent. with a £5 million per year saving on staff costs. At the end of last financial year in March 2009 HO General Property in the Department's shared services directorate had 136 staff including 18 direct delivery staff, with a net cost to the Department of pay/non-pay expenditure of £4.4 million. Services to the Departments custodial estate are delivered by the Ministry of Justice.

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the inter-department monitoring group last met to discuss human trafficking; and how many times the group has met to discuss human trafficking in the last two years.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Inter Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG) last met in March and will meet again in the near future.
	The IDMG meets on a quarterly basis and has done so over the past two years.

ICT

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of his Department's computers were compromised by malicious software in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm information on the number of malicious attacks against their IT systems.
	The Home Office complies with Mandatory Requirement 39 of the Security Policy Framework which requires a policy on managing risks posed by all forms of malicious software ('malware').

ICT

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many trojan computer programmes have been detected on  (a) Home Office,  (b) UK Border Agency and  (c) Immigration and Passport Service computers in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many  (a) alien key logging devices and  (b) items of alien key logging software have been detected on (i) Home Office, (ii) UK Border Agency and (iii) Immigration and Passport Service computers in each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm information on the number of malicious attacks against their IT systems.
	The Home Office complies with Mandatory Requirement 39 of the Security Policy Framework which requires a policy on managing risks posed by all forms of malicious software ('malware').

Immigration

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with his French counterpart on immigration matters; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not yet had any discussions with his French counterpart on immigration matters. I have met with Eric Besson the French Minister for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development on four occasions:
	11 February 2009—Bilateral meeting, London, UK
	23 June 2009—Bilateral meeting, Paris, France
	6 July 2009—Meeting at the Anglo-French summit, Evian, France
	16 July 2009—Meeting at the Informal meeting of European Union Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Stockholm, Sweden.

Internet: Terrorism

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent assessment is of the extent of use of cyberspace by terrorist and violent extremists in the UK.

David Hanson: A number of Government Departments and Agencies are involved in assessing terrorist use of cyber space, in particular terrorist use of the internet. By their nature such assessments are classified. The recently published Cyber Security Strategy provides an unclassified summary of Government's collective assessment of such activities and of the current threat:
	"Terrorists and violent extremists use cyber space for communication, co-ordination, propaganda, fundraising, radicalisation, and recruitment, providing them with an unprecedented opportunity to access a wider global community. While we expect terrorist groups to continue to favour high-profile conventional operations over cyber attacks, we must be vigilant against any future increase in capability that might be directed against UK interests at home and overseas."
	The UK's revised strategy for countering international terrorism - CONTEST -published in March this year provides further analysis of the impact which the advancements in technology have had on terrorist activities alongside our understanding of the current use of the internet by terrorist groups, including the increases in the number of websites related to terrorist groups or supporting violent extremism.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when the visa enquiry office of the Islamabad consulate plans to reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West's correspondence of 17 April, 7 May and 20 May 2009, on Mr Abdul Rehman;
	(2)  when the visa enquiry office of the Islamabad consulate plans to reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West's correspondence of 17 April, 7 May and 20 May 2009, on Mr Abdul Rehman.

Phil Woolas: Our Visa Section in Islamabad has no record of the correspondence in question from the hon. Member about Mr. Abdul Rehman. An Entry Clearance Manager has written separately to the hon. Member to explain the position regarding Mr. Rehman's visa application.

Metal: Theft

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce levels of theft of metal in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Government take the issue of metal theft seriously, and recognise that it has a detrimental effect on the national infrastructure, affecting service providers, and both individuals and whole communities. It can also pose a serious health risk to offenders.
	Local agencies are well placed with the necessary tools and powers to tackle metal theft where this is a issue locally. For example, in Avon and Somerset, police and partners initiated Operation Fragment when metal theft was discovered to be a problem. This successful operation tackled metal theft through crime prevention measures, increased publicity, a focus on suspicious vehicles and offenders and working with the scrap metal dealers in the area.
	The Home Office part funded a dedicated unit to tackle metal theft, headed by British Transport police. This ran from January to June 2009 and we are assessing the impact of this unit and considering how to apply this learning more widely.
	Government officials, including from the Home Office, are also on the ACPO-led steering group tackling metal theft, which meets regularly to discuss the strategies to tackle metal theft and any emerging issues. This includes representatives from police as well as from industries most affected by metal theft.

National Police Improvement Agency: Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the National Policing Improvement Agency in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The national policing improvement agency was established by statute on 1 April 2007. Data in respect of bonuses paid since that date to the categories of staff listed are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Bonuses paid within NPIA 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1)  Total 
			 Directors—NPIA CEO and chief officers 79,000 82,000 Pending 161,000 
			 Senior managers—NPIA grade 4A to 4B 5,000 605 1,500 7,105 
			 Specialist and delivery managers—NPIA grades 2B to 3B 8,104 14,104 4,000 26,208 
			 Executive support and administration staff—all other grades 13,003 7,291 7,250 27,544 
			 Total 105,107 104,000 12,750 221,857 
			 (1) As at 22 June 2009

National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has provided to the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office has provided funding to the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) for the period 2004-05 to 2008-09 as shown in the table:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004-05 1,082,000 
			 2005-06 142,000 
			 2006-07 2,486,000 
			 2007-08 2,371,000 
			 2008-09 2,945,000 
			  Source: Home Office Accounting System 
		
	
	In addition, in 2005-06 a budget transfer of £1,333,000 was made to the Department of Health through the Supplementary Estimates to meet Drug Interventions Programme related costs that fell to the NTA.

Offenders: Deportation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the maximum sum payable in support under the Facilitated Returns Scheme is;
	(2)  how much has been spent in support under the Facilitated Returns Scheme in each year since its inception;
	(3)  how many people removed from the UK under the Early Removal Scheme have been returned to prison in England and Wales in each of the last three years;
	(4)  how many people have been returned under the Facilitated Returns Scheme in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: The Facilitated Returns Scheme was launched in October 2006 as an incentive to persuade foreign prisoners to return voluntarily to their own country. The scheme offers a package of reintegration assistance to the individual; however, no financial incentives are offered. The only cash the individual receives is the standard £46 discharge grant provided to all prisoners, including British nationals. The level of assistance offered is variable and is dependant upon the individual circumstances of each case. Assistance is provided up to a maximum of £5,000 for serving foreign criminals and £3,000 for those who have completed their sentence. Only half of those who are removed under the provisions of the scheme receive reintegration assistance once they return to their country. Once removed from the UK under the scheme's provisions, they are excluded from the UK. As such it is only possible to benefit from the scheme once.
	The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has written to the Home Affairs Select Committee on a regular basis in order to provide all of the most robust and accurate information on foreign national prisoners and deportation, including the successes seen through the use of the Facilitated Returns Scheme. In her letter of 23 July 2008 she advised that the scheme, accounted for around 25 per cent. of all foreign prisoner removals in 2007. This has generated significant savings and has resulted in nearly 1,800 foreign prisoners being removed from the UK. In the first year of the scheme (October 2006 to October 2007) the agency spent around £350,000, inclusive of administrative costs. For the same period around 880 removals were made under the scheme which generated considerable savings in detention costs alone.
	Since April 2008, the Early Removals Scheme was extended to enable eligible prisoners to be removed up to 270 days before their normal release date. It was previously 135 days. The information relating to those removed from the UK and who have been returned to prison is not held centrally. In order to obtain the information it would be necessary to examine individual case files at a disproportionate cost.
	Copies of her letters are available in the Library of the House. The chief executive will continue to write to the Committee with further updates on the scheme and other data on the deportation of foreign national prisoners.

Police National Intelligence and Co-ordination Centre

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has allocated to the Police National Intelligence and Co-ordination Centre in each year since its establishment; and how many staff the centre has employed in each such year.

David Hanson: The Police National Information and Coordination Centre (PNICC) was set up in 2003 by the Association of Chief Police Officers in order to coordinate the national mobilisation of police resources. Funding for PNICC is provided via contributions from police authorities rather than directly from the Home Office. This funding provides for three permanent PNICC staff and associated costs. Additional staff are seconded to PNICC to meet specific operational requirements, as required.

Police Pledge Publicity Campaign: Finance

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total budget for marketing, public relations, communications and advertising is for the 2009 police pledge publicity campaign.

David Hanson: The Home Office ran a campaign in the spring of 2009 to raise awareness and understanding of the policing pledge, a set of promises to residents about the service they can expect from their local police.
	The media spend on the advertising and marketing of the policing pledge in England and Wales in the 2008-09 financial year was £3,427,521.00.

Right of Abode: European Economic Area

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time taken to process an application for an EEA residence permit was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The time taken to process applications will depend on the type of application made and how it is submitted. There is currently a backlog of applications, and UKBA is taking steps to address this situation as soon as possible. UKBA aims to be operating back within service standards from the beginning of December 2009.

Road Traffic Offences

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) males and  (b) females aged (i) between 17 and 24 years, (ii) between 25 and 30 years, (iii) between 31 and 35 years, (iv) between 36 and 40 years and (v) over 40 years have been (A) charged with and (B) convicted of failing to comply with an instruction given by a traffic signal in each year since 1997.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 25 June 2009
	Information on prosecutions and convictions for selected motoring offences covering the years 1997 to 2007, latest available, can be found in tables 1 and 2 as follows:
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of males and females proceeded against at magistrates courts for certain motoring offences, by sex and age group, England and Wales, 1997 to 2007( 1, 2, 3) 
			1997 prosecutions  1998 prosecutions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 1,655 8,447 1,035 764 1,892 13,804 266 1,507 163 131 393 2,460 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 537 2,445 409 322 1,110 4,823 605 2,073 584 433 1,538 5,233 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 572 2,302 252 188 434 3,760 498 2,068 264 180 412 3,433 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 266 *1,507 163 131 *393 2,460 263 1,008 177 135 330 *1,914 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 190 620 131 100 271 1,312 195 544 177 147 430 *1,493 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 47 *328 *37 *23 *59 494 44 277 33 29 65 *449 
		
	
	
		
			1999  prosecutions  2000  prosecutions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 1,491 5,283 1,079 818 1,972 10,661 1,297 4,561 900 769 1,763 9,306 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 550 1,561 636 561 1,567 4,875 697 2,505 1,106 974 3,116 8,402 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 545 1,671 367 248 628 3,476 454 1,316 319 223 511 2,846 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 223 818 143 142 355 1,681 179 805 124 132 285 1,525 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 156 424 177 132 323 1,213 226 670 303 244 527 1,970 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 63 257 68 51 144 585 53 195 53 44 100 445 
		
	
	
		
			2001  prosecutions  2002  prosecutions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 1,124 3,599 788 705 1,456 7,682 1,045 3,378 717 627 1,468 7,252 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 735 2,063 1,145 1,081 3,234 8,260 653 2,345 821 685 2,040 6,547 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 439 1,271 260 185 348 2,538 453 1,560 202 159 396 2,805 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 148 598 134 121 245 1,246 117 624 142 104 241 1,228 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 227 597 294 267 615 2,000 193 681 228 217 487 1,808 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 33 199 31 30 63 357 48 284 46 33 63 474 
		
	
	
		
			2003  prosecutions  2004  prosecutions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 1,155 3,060 872 774 1,849 7,724 1,029 2,819 709 640 1,564 6,768 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 563 1,879 618 594 1,649 5,306 429 1,278 638 596 1,823 4,764 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 602 1,426 302 243 455 3,092 1,212 1,747 763 596 1,547 5,968 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 179 515 161 164 389 1,408 132 515 119 113 243 1,122 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 144 537 169 141 361 1,352 111 248 164 165 320 1,008 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 32 217 50 42 101 443 146 332 143 121 384 1,129 
		
	
	
		
			2005  prosecutions  2006  prosecutions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 687 2,393 519 443 1,209 5,262 635 2,192 510 469 1,292 5,108 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 378 1,102 493 448 1,298 3,720 576 2,490 644 582 1,851 6,144 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 1,288 2,042 871 802 1,895 7,018 1,364 1,955 877 799 2,110 7,174 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 107 347 94 80 188 827 111 378 104 84 233 911 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 107 253 120 101 268 849 156 624 179 172 409 1,540 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 192 405 175 172 377 1,322 220 460 194 210 503 1,588 
		
	
	
		
			2007  prosecutions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 615 2,118 449 397 1,206 4,792 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 760 3,495 774 826 2,339 8,195 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 1,260 1,935 817 812 2,091 6,972 
			 
			  Females
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 105 354 69 64 216 808 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 201 771 181 203 496 1,852 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 263 468 186 211 541 1,672 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 : Number of males and  females  found guilty at all  courts for certain motoring offences, by sex and age group, England and Wales, 1997 to 2007( 1, 2, 3) 
			1997  convictions  1998  convictions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 1,502 7,601 907 669 1,689 12,375 1,487 5,794 1,032 717 1,827 10,864 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 507 2,290 386 313 1,071 4,567 549 1,905 526 397 1,350 4,727 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 481 1,996 213 163 377 3,236 408 1,803 213 156 357 2,943 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 244 1,392 150 121 374 2,281 241 935 167 125 308 1,777 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 184 585 125 93 260 1,247 182 488 157 128 389 1,344 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 45 295 35 19 54 448 41 237 33 24 61 396 
		
	
	
		
			1999  convictions  2000  convictions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 1,341 4,580 944 714 1,729 9,324 1,153 4,073 787 682 1,540 8,247 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 497 1,421 579 503 1,348 4,348 672 2,287 1,077 947 3,031 8,018 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 429 1,429 303 217 527 2,912 341 1,097 259 184 401 2,290 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 212 750 131 129 327 1,549 165 747 117 122 250 1,401 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 142 375 161 123 279 1,081 217 629 295 238 522 1,901 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 55 232 60 47 129 525 43 167 46 37 74 367 
		
	
	
		
			2001  convictions  2002  convictions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 974 3,185 694 608 1,266 6,735 919 3,054 629 548 1,299 6,462 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 702 1,910 1,105 1,038 3,137 7,894 608 2,122 779 648 1,954 6,114 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 316 1,081 224 157 293 2,083 333 1,344 174 125 341 2,328 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 133 546 127 113 228 1,147 111 574 134 95 222 1,136 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 217 560 283 257 602 1,919 184 628 225 207 471 1,716 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 32 176 27 29 53 318 43 262 41 29 58 433 
		
	
	
		
			2003 convictions  2004 convictions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 996 2,687 755 691 1,650 6,791 831 2,477 612 563 1,338 5,827 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 528 1,732 583 547 1,557 4,949 394 1,135 598 546 1,685 4,358 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 359 1,175 219 187 353 2,316 934 1,451 650 522 1,388 5,000 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 156 477 151 145 349 1,278 115 470 111 97 215 1,008 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 135 494 158 132 344 1,263 105 224 155 158 301 943 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 25 192 39 33 86 376 136 305 131 112 362 1,048 
		
	
	
		
			2005 convictions  2006 convictions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 605 2,121 454 375 1,058 4,621 566 1,946 465 419 1,142 4,547 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 347 986 446 417 1,170 3,367 523 1,920 596 540 1,675 5,254 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 1,031 1,692 770 706 1,724 5,997 1,134 1,717 779 707 1,882 6,267 
			   
			  Females  
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 97 324 84 72 180 757 97 349 96 80 216 839 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 100 230 113 94 254 791 147 505 170 156 374 1,352 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 172 383 166 159 354 1,235 207 420 189 199 464 1,480 
		
	
	
		
			2007  convictions 
			  Offence description  Principal statute(s)  17-24  25-30  31-35  36-40  41 and over  All ages 
			  Males
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 548 1,908 393 358 1,086 4,300 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 686 2,505 704 747 2,123 6,766 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 1,052 1,700 747 731 1,927 6,187 
			 
			  Females
			 Failure to comply with signals/signs—not detected by camera Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) 100 328 66 60 205 759 
			 Offences detected by camera devices Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.36 (1) 188 616 167 184 452 1,607 
			 Other offences of neglecting traffic directions Road Traffic Act 1988 Sec.35 (1) & (2), 36(1) & 163 (3) 243 440 178 196 511 1,571 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) All ages column includes the age group 10 to 16.  Source: Court proceedings database, Criminal Justice Evidence and Analysis, Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice

Roads: Closures

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the Metropolitan Police closed Finchley Road in London on 9 July 2009; on whose authority; and what efforts were made to notify motorists of the closure in order to avoid unnecessary congestion.

David Hanson: The decision to close a road is an operational matter for the police. On this occasion, the Metropolitan police closed the road following a serious road traffic collision. The closure was necessary to ensure the safety of the public, to cut open the vehicles so that the drivers and passengers could be removed, to facilitate treatment for the injured and the removal of four casualties by the London ambulance service, and to carry out an investigation into the cause of the collision.
	Transport for London were notified immediately of the closure and co-ordinated relevant announcements These which included local radio traffic updates to provide advance information of the closure and advice for motorists so that they could seek alternative routes as far in advance of the accident scene as possible.

Sexual Offences

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate has been for cases of  (a) rape and  (b) sexual assault in each police force area in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: The available information is given in the tables.
	It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the percentage change in total detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstance. There are other changes affecting trends in detection rates that are discussed in section 3.5 of Volume two of Crime in England and Wales 2008-09, a copy of which has been deposited in the Library of the House.
	Detection rates are a ratio of crime detected in a period to crimes recorded in a period. They are not based on tracking whether individual crimes recorded in a period have eventually been detected.
	
		
			  Table 1 Detection rates for offences of rape and  sexual assault:  2000-01  to  2001-02( 1) 
			   2000-01  2001-02 
			  Police force area  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault 
			 Avon and Somerset 43 48 27 32 
			 Bedfordshire 33 54 25 42 
			 British Transport Police n/a n/a n/a  
			 Cambridgeshire 50 59 46 51 
			 Cheshire 85 84 81 76 
			 Cleveland 59 68 65 69 
			 Cumbria 70 85 74 69 
			 Derbyshire 38 50 39 59 
			 Devon and Cornwall 77 81 49 59 
			 Dorset 36 52 39 48 
			 Durham n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Dyfed-Powys 108 92 76 94 
			 Essex 50 55 33 51 
			 Gloucestershire 88 62 57 61 
			 Greater Manchester 58 59 55 54 
			 Gwent 98 90 93 89 
			 Hampshire n/a n/a 53 56 
			 Hertfordshire 66 65 62 75 
			 Humberside 36 39 33 37 
			 Kent 57 55 56 56 
			 Lancashire 54 59 47 47 
			 Leicestershire n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Lincolnshire 67 70 50 66 
			 London, City of 50 29 22 68 
			 Merseyside 74 66 53 54 
			 Metropolitan Police 24 28 27 26 
			 Norfolk 35 48 36 48 
			 Northamptonshire 71 80 64 62 
			 Northumbria 48 54 43 49 
			 North Wales 64 74 35 56 
			 North Yorkshire 75 73 59 64 
			 Nottinghamshire 50 41 36 42 
			 South Wales 88 71 90 75 
			 South Yorkshire n/a n/a 72 60 
			 Staffordshire 38 39 35 33 
			 Suffolk 35 57 30 51 
			 Surrey 28 41 42 40 
			 Sussex 34 47 35 48 
			 Thames Valley 26 48 32 42 
			 Warwickshire 52 46 30 57 
			 West Mercia 57 55 44 50 
			 West Midlands 54 51 45 51 
			 West Yorkshire n/a n/a 55 62 
			 Wiltshire 32 36 46 47 
			 England and Wales(2,3) 42 47 41 45 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not direct comparable with those for later years. (2) For 2000-01 excludes British Transport Police, Durham, Hampshire, Leicestershire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. (3) For 2001-02 excludes British Transport Police. Durham and Leicestershire.  Note: Offences detected in any given year may have been initially recorded in a previous year and for this reason some percentages may exceed 100. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Detection rates for offences of rape and sexual assault: 2002-03 to 2008-09( 1) 
			   2002 - 03  2003- 04  2004- 05  2005- 06  2006- 07  2007 - 08  2008 - 09 
			  Police force area  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault  Rape  Sexual assault 
			 Avon and Somerset 22 26 21 26 18 19 22 24 20 22 25 23 21 23 
			 Bedfordshire 29 35 21 25 23 38 23 25 15 37 18 20 16 26 
			 British Transport Police 73 27 50 26 21 22 45 29 37 27 18 30 23 29 
			 Cambridgeshire 29 32 15 30 21 30 22 30 15 30 19 23 23 33 
			 Cheshire 48 55 29 47 28 43 28 39 30 36 31 37 26 38 
			 Cleveland 41 44 31 41 22 40 38 40 34 35 30 41 37 40 
			 Cumbria 64 58 30 48 30 41 36 49 47 42 25 43 21 42 
			 Derbyshire 35 41 33 43 28 40 30 30 21 30 28 28 23 27 
			 Devon and Cornwall 30 42 19 35 24 34 18 32 20 33 17 28 19 31 
			 Dorset 25 44 17 27 16 35 17 30 27 28 18 22 11 30 
			 Durham 68 54 71 71 60 63 26 41 43 43 43 47 44 47 
			 Dyfed-Powys 91 89 25 48 31 39 18 42 28 38 20 32 31 49 
			 Essex 32 41 29 39 27 41 25 33 25 40 19 32 19 29 
			 Gloucestershire 31 42 28 35 28 34 19 31 21 34 30 26 23 34 
			 Greater Manchester 46 49 32 40 30 29 31 37 31 35 38 25 31 26 
			 Gwent 80 80 78 80 51 60 40 54 36 35 20 25 38 29 
			 Hampshire 41 53 34 39 25 37 21 33 19 27 21 31 21 29 
			 Hertfordshire 50 50 50 54 38 50 41 42 28 35 22 39 17 36 
			 Humberside 23 38 20 31 19 33 23 35 24 29 22 33 28 31 
			 Kent 38 44 27 38 22 32 21 31 23 26 26 30 22 35 
			 Lancashire 52 54 35 41 37 43 35 44 37 42 30 44 36 42 
			 Leicestershire 26 32 28 32 23 31 18 33 20 26 12 27 17 28 
			 Lincolnshire 40 32 28 36 31 41 21 38 24 32 17 30 25 30 
			 London, City of 100 41 — 28 — 52 — 43 — 33 — 19 100 59 
			 Merseyside 47 52 43 45 35 44 24 41 28 42 22 33 29 34 
			 Metropolitan Police 29 25 33 24 38 26 36 27 34 20 34 21 34 28 
			 Norfolk 24 33 18 42 22 35 23 37 24 36 21 35 36 39 
			 Northamptonshire 53 52 37 55 32 50 33 37 25 36 21 23 19 36 
			 Northumbria 36 46 30 43 24 36 29 44 33 45 29 39 34 41 
			 North Wales 26 34 29 39 27 42 25 47 16 39 17 34 18 36 
			 North Yorkshire 43 55 41 51 35 48 29 50 41 44 26 40 27 35 
			 Nottinghamshire 34 39 27 36 35 38 27 38 31 38 25 30 19 29 
			 South Wales 62 56 53 49 59 40 29 36 28 30 42 37 39 36 
			 South Yorkshire 40 42 38 42 29 37 24 34 27 28 34 30 38 33 
			 Staffordshire 40 48 32 49 30 45 26 37 24 35 21 29 24 27 
			 Suffolk 30 51 26 35 19 31 24 38 20 43 19 33 16 34 
			 Surrey 32 40 35 39 24 40 32 38 29 44 24 39 12 22 
			 Sussex 26 39 24 39 14 32 20 34 15 36 21 30 19 29 
			 Thames Valley 27 32 18 33 24 33 22 32 19 30 19 23 18 21 
			 Warwickshire 27 45 19 30 25 36 19 40 16 31 22 30 28 27 
			 West Mercia 37 46 35 48 29 43 27 48 20 35 22 31 23 32 
			 West Midlands 41 36 32 32 26 27 30 29 23 27 25 27 30 34 
			 West Yorkshire 42 44 31 33 25 34 25 22 19 32 24 25 22 23 
			 Wiltshire 37 40 41 37 32 40 33 38 18 33 23 28 35 31 
			
			 England and Wales 36 39 31 36 29 34 27 34 26 31 26 29 26 30 
			 (1) The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.  Note: Offences detected in any given year may have been initially recorded in a previous year and for this reason some percentages may exceed 100.

Visas: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what revenue has been collected from  (a) short- and  (b) long-term visitor visa applicants from each country in each year since 2000.

Alan Johnson: The following table shows revenue collected from  (a) short and  (b) long-term visitor visa applications, from each country in each year since 2004. Reliable data are not available before 2004.
	
		
			  Visit visa income estimates FY 2004 -98 
			  £ 
			   FY 2004  FY 2005  FY 2006  FY 2007  FY 2008 
			  Country  LTV  STV  LTV  STV  LTV  STV  LTV  STV  LTV  STV 
			 Albania 11,000 294,200 29,600 488,100 42,200 450,300 75,600 398,000 103,400 394,000 
			 Algeria 150,800 192,200 148,700 286,400 147,700 340,900 256,100 610,200 218,300 539,300 
			 Angola 22,600 94,600 31,700 131,300 29,900 147,800 64,500 217,500 38,000 173,600 
			 Argentina 2,700 3,400 3,500 5,400 3,200 9,200 3,600 8,800 0 0 
			 Armenia 8,500 31,200 9,100 51,400 10,500 63,000 23,200 87,500 26,000 104,600 
			 Australia 5,200 74,000 11,400 115,400 9,200 120,900 18,600 156,900 35,200 173,600 
			 Austria 39,400 61,700 46,600 82,900 27,000 89,000 37,900 92,000 0 100 
			 Azerbaijan 39,400 108,700 64,100 161,900 94,600 165,100 192,600 235,600 216,100 244,900 
			 Bahrain 165,300 210,100 256,000 279,700 321,300 289,700 491,900 425,700 804,200 393,000 
			 Bangladesh 202,500 701,400 348,000 955,600 367,400 1,147,600 533,100 1,422,900 599,300 1,108,800 
			 Barbados 7,600 19,700 12,500 23,000 23,500 28,000 33,500 38,100 14,300 8,000 
			 Belarus 25,300 258,700 30,900 374,700 35,900 426,300 69,300 516,900 98,100 555,100 
			 Belgium 52,000 140,200 89,900 213,200 86,600 233,200 199,300 248,600 0 0 
			 Bolivia 300 3,100 300 3,100 300 5,500 400 6,000 0 0 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 17,800 90,000 26,100 135,900 31,000 124,200 59,300 170,000 58,600 199,300 
			 Botswana 6,300 35,400 9,600 46,800 8,300 46,700 10,700 57,500 0 600 
			 Brazil 4,800 23,200 8,100 31,600 7,200 39,700 9,200 39,100 17,000 36,900 
			 Brunei 3,200 16,300 5,700 46,000 7,500 35,300 11,700 16,200 9,000 19,400 
			 Bulgaria 211,900 439,700 300,100 784,800 149,900 664,700 7,500 21,900 2,800 9,000 
			 Burma 2,400 37,300 5,800 54,500 8,100 61,900 12,400 86,100 18,400 81,000 
			 Cameroon 20,800 123,900 27,500 151,700 23,500 142,700 54,000 186,700 18,200 77,100 
			 Canada 114,200 320,400 165,200 424,900 190,800 380,900 190,100 509,900 231,800 478,200 
			 Chile 1,700 25,300 2,300 17,000 3,900 13,800 7,500 7,400 8,400 4,500 
			 China 156,500 3,981,100 322,500 5,353,100 470,800 6,206,900 879,900 8,712,800 1,187,400 7,096,500 
			 Colombia 49,700 370,500 59,200 549,900 70,300 584,900 182,000 708,300 270,000 683,300 
			 Congo (Dem. Rep.) 17,100 120,000 25,200 167,900 33,000 138,400 90,700 156,600 0 0 
			 Croatia 75,200 453,200 93,900 558,200 1,900 20,400 4,800 35,600 3,000 20,300 
			 Cuba 3,400 109,300 2,900 138,300 2,900 109,600 5,700 100,900 9,000 88,800 
			 Cyprus 17,500 137,300 30,900 208,100 30,500 318,300 56,100 283,300 52,100 243,300 
			 Czech Republic 10,400 48,200 9,900 57,200 14,800 143,100 42,100 134,700 1,500 3,000 
			 Denmark 19,400 92,300 19,600 127,400 26,900 136,700 36,900 165,100 47,200 186,600 
			 Dominican Republic 6,100 38,600 3,900 70,600 5,700 59,300 17,000 84,800 0 0 
			 Ecuador 9,600 70,400 12,700 96,000 13,400 117,400 34,300 125,300 58,000 75,600 
			 Egypt 185,800 716,800 347,700 888,200 429,300 952,600 948,400 1,238,100 1,536,200 1,573,500 
			 Eritrea 1,200 20,200 1,200 20,500 700 5,400 400 1,400 200 900 
			 Estonia 800 18,300 1,600 32,700 2,100 43,800 2,500 50,600 0 0 
			 Ethiopia 45,900 123,100 53,700 135,800 33,600 133,800 54,200 171,200 50,700 171,600 
			 Fiji 4,100 34,200 4,500 35,800 2,700 34,300 4,400 67,300 6,700 52,500 
			 Finland 3,000 29,100 3,100 46,300 7,400 56,200 17,200 69,300 11,000 58,400 
			 France 308,600 779,800 391,900 1,002,800 478,000 1,050,800 537,700 1,070,200 700,300 1,386,600 
			 Gambia, The 61,700 175,900 96,300 226,900 75,900 209,300 117,700 256,400 125,500 253,000 
			 Georgia 23,300 86,000 31,600 142,500 47,800 159,600 100,500 205,400 158,400 212,200 
			 Germany 288,600 821,800 348,800 1,030,500 363,200 915,600 427,600 901,800 617,900 1,171,500 
			 Ghana 558,900 1,643,100 664,400 1,395,700 621,300 1,154,200 1,121,100 1,357,500 1,080,900 1,293,100 
			 Greece 8,000 36,700 12,200 85,700 15,200 59,900 28,900 92,800 31,300 66,200 
			 Guyana 14,000 76,800 22,100 127,200 21,700 129,600 38,900 124,300 0 0 
			 Hungary 11,000 56,200 12,000 83,200 11,000 72,600 24,300 62,300 7,100 15,800 
			 Iceland 1,900 6,400 3,000 9,800 2,000 11,000 3,400 10,900 2,200 9,200 
			 India 2,653,100 7,797,200 4,386,200 11,996,700 4,721,300 13,901,100 5,042,400 17,971,300 7,418,400 16,731,700 
			 Indonesia 33,100 460,900 46,500 601,300 69,000 653,300 111,600 933,300 158,200 864,000 
			 Iran 235,500 996,000 337,900 1,451,100 476,700 1,598,500 884,100 1,894,200 930,700 1,902,400 
			 Iraq 600 29,600 700 42,000 3,600 44,100 3,400 39,500 1,000 12,200 
			 Irish Republic 321,500 232,400 487,700 366,300 484,600 418,700 569,800 572,500 631,400 598,700 
			 Israel 14,200 75,600 17,300 100,000 16,600 87,400 32,200 105,200 0 300 
			 Italy 131,600 472,600 170,500 636,500 143,100 573,000 187,200 493,300 236,700 560,200 
			 Ivory Coast 20,300 98,400 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Jamaica 199,600 526,400 2,800 581,100 228,700 529,700 281,000 622,800 369,600 509,400 
			 Japan 9,400 90,000 100 125,200 11,600 119,600 26,600 142,300 31,100 105,500 
			 Jordan 232,700 392,900 3,300 552,300 272,100 525,300 349,500 634,200 628,200 858,900 
			 Kazakhstan 52,500 201,700 1,200 351,700 155,200 535,600 78,300 370,500 0 0 
			 Kenya 245,500 448,300 3,100 471,700 298,000 435,200 457,700 658,600 652,300 935,200 
			 Korea 2,600 14,700 100 17,800 8,100 23,900 19,300 28,400 13,900 19,800 
			 Kuwait 705,200 1,072,400 10,000 1,931,000 718,300 1,940,300 1,360,300 2,249,400 2,907,400 2,238,000 
			 Latvia 5,200 52,500 100 58,300 8,000 76,500 13,000 102,600 1,900 10,300 
			 Lebanon 180,800 210,600 2,100 330,100 166,700 274,400 343,000 456,200 404,100 383,600 
			 Libya 39,200 332,800 700 452,400 74,700 414,400 139,900 514,800 247,300 619,700 
			 Lithuania 1,000 6,500 0 7,900 2,100 11,200 2,300 15,900 0 0 
			 Luxembourg 6,100 6,500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Macedonia 14,600 195,000 300 4,800 52,600 259,400 77,300 346,500 86,100 347,000 
			 Madagascar 2,000 8,400 0 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Malawi 2,500 23,600 100 600 16,600 114,500 22,800 115,400 800 4,500 
			 Malaysia 9,800 34,400 200 1,100 18,100 53,200 22,000 73,100 195,600 315,300 
			 Malta 6,200 15,300 100 300 4,500 18,400 8,000 16,400 0 0 
			 Mauritius 4,700 46,700 100 1,300 6,800 76,700 15,100 79,800 16,800 70,300 
			 Mexico 5,000 29,100 100 1,000 5,000 49,000 7,300 49,900 4,100 23,200 
			 Moldova 6,800 41,600 100 1,300 8,100 65,500 19,100 73,900 29,000 71,100 
			 Mongolia 4,100 29,000 0 700 5,700 51,300 4,200 67,800 0 0 
			 Morocco 130,800 331,100 2,100 10,900 159,900 507,900 175,100 451,000 223,600 394,500 
			 Mozambique 6,100 24,900 100 600 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Namibia 1,800 7,000 0 200 1,200 3,800 0 0 0 0 
			 Nepal 13,000 115,300 200 4,400 27,300 356,400 32,900 299,900 0 0 
			 Netherlands 68,800 300,200 1,000 5,700 81,800 274,800 153,700 349,200 138,400 239,000 
			 New Zealand 800 20,300 0 700 1,400 24,100 2,900 28,000 7,300 27,700 
			 Nigeria 5,910,500 4,511,600 78,200 106,000 5,514,500 6,461,500 8,454,500 6,406,300 9,688,000 6,528,600 
			 Norway 8,300 108,700 100 2,800 15,500 137,400 24,900 151,400 43,800 180,400 
			 Oman 109,800 213,100 2,000 5,700 167,500 282,800 245,200 437,900 353,900 547,000 
			 Pakistan 1,856,900 3,847,900 32,400 95,900 3,345,400 6,225,800 4,732,900 6,474,200 3,711,900 4,041,900 
			 Panama 700 6,700 0 100 0 11,000 0 12,700 0 7,700 
			 Papua New Guinea 600 2,900 0 100 400 2,800 1,500 3,500 1,500 3,500 
			 Peru 15,800 115,700 300 3,100 19,800 188,600 61,400 193,900 0 100 
			 Philippines 100,800 568,200 1,300 17,900 156,500 882,100 239,800 1,064,900 284,600 1,042,000 
			 Poland 2,900 61,700 100 800 5,800 46,800 23,900 63,200 189,900 341,200 
			 Portugal 7,200 38,200 100 1,100 13,500 84,500 11,700 70,300 0 0 
			 Qatar 197,600 273,500 4,300 7,800 492,800 504,700 622,300 862,100 1,239,800 864,800 
			 Romania 190,200 787,000 4,100 24,500 185,900 1,151,300 22,200 53,800 26,000 62,600 
			 Russian Federation 483,300 3,650,800 9,200 108,200 785,500 6,051,800 1,846,100 7,439,000 2,707,900 7,906,200 
			 Saudi Arabia 612,900 1,046,400 12,300 28,000 1,400,400 1,572,200 2,561,200 2,365,600 4,500,400 2,689,300 
			 Senegal 9,300 61,800 200 1,900 24,300 140,500 49,200 162,000 51,100 176,400 
			 Sierra Leone 69,800 154,900 1,100 4,400 98,700 249,800 148,900 274,300 192,300 189,500 
			 Singapore 29,900 108,600 800 2,900 75,300 161,900 160,600 234,800 1,300 1,900 
			 Slovakia 300 5,300 0 200 900 9,500 0 11,500 0 100 
			 South Africa 17,200 117,200 500 3,600 52,600 201,200 90,900 550,000 459,700 1,444,500 
			 Spain 73,900 219,800 1,600 6,300 122,600 302,800 154,100 408,100 193,800 461,900 
			 Sri Lanka 119,400 682,200 2,200 17,900 231,300 999,900 291,300 1,164,400 101,800 296,600 
			 Sudan 60,000 149,400 900 4,300 95,600 300,800 204,000 346,300 1,900 17,800 
			 Swaziland 300 3,800 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Sweden 10,900 137,400 200 3,800 28,700 170,100 37,500 181,300 44,200 209,600 
			 Switzerland 86,200 299,200 1,500 8,100 138,400 400,300 215,900 474,200 254,700 501,000 
			 Syria 45,100 164,500 900 5,000 68,600 331,300 66,200 79,800 45,800 41,700 
			 Taiwan (China) 71,600 984,400 900 26,500 59,200 1,488,600 167,100 1,569,700 188,900 1,289,700 
			 Tajikistan 52,500 201,700 1,200 7,100 155,200 537,100 262,000 744,600 414,300 694,000 
			 Tanzania 54,300 215,100 900 4,800 92,900 243,600 124,800 321,400 142,100 251,500 
			 Thailand 116,900 1,280,200 2,100 30,700 188,100 1,518,000 353,500 2,235,100 519,000 2,309,700 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 4,300 18,000 100 600 6,600 29,400 21,600 43,000 10,800 6,000 
			 Tunisia 33,700 258,700 800 6,300 69,400 285,900 92,100 313,600 78,100 173,400 
			 Turkey 994,000 1,035,400 19,400 33,900 1,741,800 2,082,600 2,680,300 3,375,100 3,904,300 3,516,700 
			 Turkmenistan 8,500 35,300 100 1,100 8,600 41,300 21,100 50,000 24,900 52,000 
			 Uganda 78,000 413,100 1,100 8,300 123,900 303,900 156,800 439,200 158,800 444,000 
			 Ukraine 147,600 631,700 2,500 19,000 214,900 1,154,900 565,400 1,600,500 633,200 1,750,900 
			 United Arab Emirates 986,100 1,406,500 16,600 35,700 2,073,900 2,046,400 3,090,300 2,773,700 5,581,600 3,534,800 
			 United Kingdom 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 134,500 286,000 
			 United States 924,300 1,762,400 14,900 44,300 1,277,100 2,211,600 1,262,300 2,787,500 1,621,600 2,847,500 
			 Uruguay 0 300 0 0 300 700 800 200 0 0 
			 Uzbekistan 12,800 60,800 100 1,000 4,800 47,800 11,700 97,400 22,700 158,400 
			 Vanuatu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Venezuela 900 4,900 0 100 800 11,600 4,600 12,100 3,900 7,100 
			 Vietnam 7,500 121,900 100 3,300 15,700 206,000 45,000 322,400 42,900 305,400 
			 Yemen 50,700 70,300 400 1,600 51,300 93,400 69,900 144,700 100,900 90,600 
			 Yugoslavia 133,800 370,600 1,900 10,800 170,000 582,400 209,400 758,800 283,100 909,900 
			 Zambia 18,800 125,200 300 3,600 24,800 203,600 53,200 258,800 85,400 224,700 
			 Zimbabwe 138,300 600,300 1,900 13,100 129,500 503,300 138,000 316,000 76,000 104,700

Visas: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of a  (a) short-term visitor visa for (i) single and (ii) multiple entry and  (b) long-term visitor visa for (A) one year, (B) two years, (C) five years and (D) 10 years in each year since 2000.

Alan Johnson: The following table shows the fee for  (a) a standard six month visit visa and  (b) visit visas valid for longer periods for the financial years 2002-09 (inclusive).
	
		
			  Visit visa duration  1999-2000  to  2001-02  2002-03  to  2004-05  2005-06  to  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 6 month 45 36 50 63 65 67 
			 2 years 55 60 (1)85 (1)200 (1)205 215 
			 5 years 60 88 (1)— (1)— (1)— 400 
			 10 years 80 150 (1)— (1)— (1)— 500 
			 (1) Represents brace.  Note:  All visit visas are multiple entry visas. Any single visit cannot exceed six months, regardless of the validity of the visa.

Visas: Pakistan

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications were received by the visa section in Islamabad in each of the last 12 months.

Alan Johnson: Islamabad Visa Section received the following number of visa applications:
	
		
			   Number 
			  2008  
			 July 17,604 
			 August 12,291 
			 September 10,391 
			 October 4,250 
			 November 4,550 
			 December 4,420 
			  2009  
			 January 5,072 
			 February 3,884 
			 March 3,961 
			 April 3,780 
			 May 4,171 
			 June 2,404 
		
	
	The volume of applications, month on month, reflects the partial closure of the visa operation following security incidents.
	These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics as they are based on internal management information. The information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, should be treated as provisional and is subject to change.

Cybercrime

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps the Office of Cyber Security plans to take to raise awareness of cyber security in the Government.

David Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government's Cyber Security Strategy, published last month, announced new governance structures and a cross-government programme of work in pursuit of the UK's strategic cyber security objectives. These objectives include reducing the risks and exploiting the opportunities from our use of cyber space through improving knowledge, capabilities and decision-making.
	These objectives will be delivered through eight new workstreams, overseen by the Office of Cyber Security and supported by the Cyber Security Operations Centre:
	Workstream 1: Safe, secure and Resilient Systems
	Workstream 2: Policy, Doctrine, Legal and Regulatory Issues
	Workstream 3: Awareness and Culture Change
	Workstream 4: Skills and Education
	Workstream 5: Technical Capabilities and Research and Development
	Workstream 6: Exploitation
	Workstream 7: International Engagement
	Workstream 8: Governance, Roles and Responsibilities
	These workstreams will build on existing work to take forward the Government's plans for reducing the impact on and vulnerability of the UK's interests from cyber attacks. They also describe how the Government would improve knowledge and awareness of the issues and the range of stakeholders who will be involved in the process, including the public.
	As the Strategy makes clear, this programme will be delivered through a partnership approach comprising Government, organisations across all sectors, and the public.

Arts Council of England: Grants

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Arts Council England awarded in grants in 2008-09.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 20 July 2009
	Arts Council England advises that it awarded £501,824,000 in grants in 2008-09.

Arts: Apprentices

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many apprenticeships have been created in the creative industries since the launch of his Department's Creative Britain strategy in February 2008; and which organisations have applied to be involved in the scheme.

Si�n Simon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 17 June 2009,  Official Report, column 344W.
	To date, over 150 organisations have expressed an interest in taking on apprentices in the creative industries. These include:
	Bluecoat Display Centre
	FACT
	Hartlepool Museum, Arts and Events Service
	Jack Drum Arts
	Lincolnshire County CouncilHeritage Services
	Liverpool Biennial
	Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse
	National Museums Liverpool
	Northampton County Council
	Northern Stage
	Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
	Tate Liverpool
	The Customs House
	The Sage Gateshead
	Tyne and Wear Museum
	Unity Theatre
	The Arcola
	The Victoria and Albert Museum
	London Transport Museum
	Live Nation
	Ryedale Folk Museum
	Bradford Council
	Royal Exchange Theatre
	Walsall Art Gallery
	Beam Gallery
	Sheffield Gallery and Museums Trust
	North Yorkshire County Council
	Birmingham Hippodrome
	Royal and Derngate Theatre
	Wolverhampton Art Gallery
	The Hat Factory
	Royal Opera House
	Historic Royal Palaces
	Plymouth Museum and Archives
	Colston Hall
	Lyric Theatre Hammersmith
	Universal Music
	Creative Alliance
	BLT
	Ditto Music
	Old Smithy
	JJM Studios
	Dudley Performing Arts
	Wiltshire Dancing
	DV8
	Rising Tide
	Manchester City Council
	Colchester Mercury
	Jabadao
	Carling Academy
	National Media Museum
	Beatrix Potter Gallery
	The Old Laundry Theatre
	Duke's Theatre
	Lancaster Theatre
	Theatre by the Lake
	Brewery Arts Centre
	Apples and Snakes
	City of Westminster College
	New College, Nottingham
	Theatre Royal, Stratford East
	The Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk
	Museum of East Anglian Life
	The Albany
	Theatre Peckham

Arts: Education

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards creating a 14 to 25 academic hub for the creative industries.

Si�n Simon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 22 June 2009,  Official Report, column 612W.

Arts: Finance

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the monetary value of exports of services by the creative industries was in each of the last five years; and what the estimated monetary value of exports from such industries is for 2009-10.

Si�n Simon: The total monetary value of exports of services by the UK creative industries in each of the last five years for which data is available is as follows:
	
		
			   Total ( million) 
			 2002 11,300 
			 2003 11,600 
			 2004 13,000 
			 2005 14,600 
			 2006 16,000 
			  Source: DCMS Creative Industries Economics Estimates, January 2009 
		
	
	These totals exclude crafts and designer fashion as figures are not available for every year.
	No future estimates have been made.

Arts: Finance

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the contribution of the creative industries to the UK's gross domestic product in each of the last five years; and what the estimated contribution for 2009-10 is.

Si�n Simon: The contribution of the creative industries to the UK's gross value added (GVA) in each of the last five years for which data are available is as follows:
	
		
			   Total ( million) 
			 2002 45,000 
			 2003 49,200 
			 2004 53,600 
			 2005 57,700 
			 2006 57,300 
			  Source: DCMS Creative Industries Economics Estimates, Jan 2009 
		
	
	These totals exclude crafts and design as gross value added figures are not available for these sectors.
	No future estimates have been made.

Broadband: North Yorkshire

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps his Department has taken to provide the universal service obligation in respect of access to a broadband connection in  (a) rural and  (b) urban areas of North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	In the Digital Britain White Paper, the Government set out their plan of how the Universal Service Commitment in relation to broadband will be achieved, committing an anticipated 200 million of public funds to help deliver this with the remainder of the costs been met from the private sector through in-kind contributions, competitive commercial pricing through tender contract and design, and contributions from other public sector organisations.
	The process will be delivered through an arms-length body, the Network Design and Procurement Group, who will be responsible for managing the procurement process and prioritising which areas receive additional support to enable them to reap the benefits of universal broadband access. The Government hope to confirm the appointment of a CEO for the Group in the autumn.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of employees in his Department  (a) are on a flexible working contract,  (b) are on a job share employment contract and  (c) work from home for more than four hours a week.

Gerry Sutcliffe: (a) The Department has a policy of promoting flexible working arrangements. These are agreed at team and sector level and as such records of these arrangements are not kept centrally with Human Resources.
	 (b) There is currently one job share employment contract in place. This represents less than 1 per cent. of the total number of employees in the Department.
	 (c) 21 employees, or 4.5 per cent. of the total number of employees in the Department, currently work from home for more than four hours a week.

Departmental Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what procedures his Department and its agencies have to assess the cost- effectiveness of grants which they make.

Gerry Sutcliffe: 97 per cent. of the Department's budget is allocated to the public bodies that help us to deliver our strategic aim and objectives. These bodies agree a high level three-year funding agreement with the Department, which explains what they will deliver for the funding allocated to them. The agreement summarises strategic priorities, key activities and outputs to be delivered, and is regularly reviewed.
	The most up-to-date information about performance against departmental strategic objectives and public service agreements can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts, which were laid on the 16 July by HM Treasury.

Departmental Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 49W, on departmental internet, what the  (a) names and  (b) versions are of the web browsers used on the (i) desktop machines and (ii) laptop computers used by his Department's (A) Permanent Secretary, (B) chief information officer, (C) head of communications and (D) head of finance.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My Department's (A) Permanent Secretary runs Internet Explorer 6 on their desktop machine, the (B) chief information officer runs Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.51 and Chrome 2 on their desktop and laptop machines, the (C) head of communications runs Internet Explorer 6 on their desktop machine and their laptop machine and the (D) head of finance runs Internet Explorer 7 on their laptop machine.

Heritage and Culture Sector Club

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 637-8W, on Heritage and Culture Sector Clubsit Britain, how many officials of his Department provide support for the Heritage and Culture Sector Club; and on what date the club last met.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Heritage and Culture Sector Club was one of a number of clubs set up by VisitBritain to engage with different sectors of the tourism industry. The club no longer exists and last met on 20 November 2007, this was a VisitBritain led initiative and DCMS officials were not involved.

Hotels: Licensing

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the likely effect on bed and breakfast proprietors of the implementation of Visit Britain's concierge licence scheme.

Barbara Follett: The concierge licence scheme or DVD Concierge Licence, is not a VisitBritain scheme. It is run by an independent business called Filmbank, which collects licence fees, under existing copyright legislation on behalf of a number of the major film studios. Other such schemes exist to help bed-and-breakfast owners comply with copyright law. Neither VisitBritain nor VisitEngland endorse this or any other particular licence services.
	Under copyright law, businesses such as bed-and-breakfast accommodation should purchase a licence if DVDs are made available to guests. A licence is not required if DVDs are not provided by the establishment, or if guests bring their own.

ITV

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the residual value of the ITV licence after digital switchover.

Si�n Simon: It is the Government's view, supported by Ofcom, that the residual value of the existing Channel 3 licences will decline further between now and the completion of Digital Switchover, meaning the benefits for ITV of remaining a PSB will be outweighed by the obligations imposed on it.
	That is why, in the Digital Britain White Paper, we set out a clear direction of travel for the liberalisation of the Channel 3 licences.

ITV: Public Service Broadcasting

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his most recent estimate is of the cost to ITV of its  (a) public service obligation and  (b) public service obligation in respect of regional news provision.

Si�n Simon: The analysis contained in Ofcom's second public service broadcasting review shows the 2009 pattern for regional news services in England and Wales costs over 50 million. The cost of ITV's other public service obligations are commercially sensitive.

Licensed Premises

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many premises in Greater London have had a licence to sell alcohol withdrawn since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, DCMS has been collecting Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment statistics on an annual basis by financial year from licensing authorities. During the period April 2006 to March 2007 for licensing authorities in Greater London, 225 premises licences were surrendered, 21 lapsed, and six were suspended, (based on between 29 to 26 returns, out of 35, from licensing authorities in the Greater London Area). For the same period, eight club premises certificates were surrendered, none lapsed and none were withdrawn. There were also an additional 31 premises licences revoked or club premises certificates withdrawn following a completed review. Under the Licensing Act 2003, premises licences and club premises certificates are not confined to just authorise the sale or supply of alcohol; they also can provide regulated entertainment and/or late night refreshment. Therefore some of these closures may be for premises that are not authorised to sell or supply alcohol.
	The April 2007 to March 2008 bulletin reported for licensing authorities in Greater London that, 463 premises licences were surrendered, 39 lapsed, three were suspended by a court, and 17 were subject to a closure notice (based on returns from 33 or 32 of the 35 licensing authorities in the Greater London Area). For the same period, 15 club premises licences were surrendered, none lapsed and 1 was withdrawn. There were also an additional 41 premises licences revoked or club premises certificates withdrawn following a completed review.

Music: Finance

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of the 500,000 funding announced in December 2007 to set up music rehearsal spaces has been  (a) allocated and  (b) spent in each region.

Si�n Simon: So far, 72,434 of the 500,000 pledged to set up music rehearsal spaces has been spent. In the North West (Liverpool) expenditure has been 39,074, and in the South West (Bristol) expenditure has been 30,376. The total expenditure includes 2,984 paid to Sound Connections for the administration of the scheme.
	In total, we are seeking to establish 10 pilot music rehearsal spaces in England. Although their grant allocations have yet to be finalised, those we plan to open over the next few months will be in Hastings, Washington, St. Austell, rural Norfolk, and Nottingham.

National Lottery: Grants

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Lottery funding for good causes has been awarded to organisations operating in  (a) Sunderland and  (b) England in the last 12 months.

Si�n Simon: The total value of Lottery grants awarded across the UK in the last 12 months to 30 June 2009 was 854.74 million. The amount awarded in that period in  (a) the Sunderland local authority area was 2.08 million and in  (b) England was 596.64 million.
	This information is drawn from DCMS's Lottery Grants database. The database is searchable at:
	www.lottery.culture.gov.uk
	http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk
	and uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.

Renaissance Programme for Museums: Finance

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish the income and expenditure accounts of the Renaissance Programme for Museums for each year since 2002.

Barbara Follett: The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council has advised that it has only ever published Renaissance income and expenditure as part of its overall accounts, and that to provide the information in the format requested could be done only at disproportionate cost. The Renaissance Review, to be published in July 2009, will contain detailed financial information about the Programme's past finances. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is committed to publishing an annual report for Renaissance from 2010 onwards which will include detailed accounts for the Programme.

Sports: Finance

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provisions in  (a) his Department's funding agreement with Sport England and  (b) Sport England's guidance to national governing bodies concern management of capital funding; and if he will place in the Library a copy of Sport England's guidance.

Gerry Sutcliffe: All National Governing Bodies are required to govern their affairs properly as a condition of Sport England funding.
	Earlier this year, Sport England provided guidance to National Governing Bodies on managing their capital funding, based on best practice developed over five years delivering the Community Club Development Programme. This guidancethe 2009-13 National Governing Body Funding Memorandum of Agreement for Capital Buildhas been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Sports: Young People

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department has taken to encourage young people to participate in sport in the last 12 months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Through the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP) and as part of our London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic promises, we have extended our ambition for PE and sport and are creating a world-class system that will offer five hours of PE and Sport a week for 5-16 year olds and three hours a week for 16 to 19 year-olds.
	In total, we are investing over 2.4 billion in the eight years to 2011, including 783 million from 2008-11. This will help to develop and sustain the nationwide infrastructure for sport in schools, which covers every maintained school in England, and from 2008 we began creating and sustaining a new network of Further Education Sports Co-ordinators (FESCOs) to realise our ambitions for 16 to 19 year-olds.
	We are also building capacity of the system by training PE teachers, recruiting and deploying more coaches and reinvigorating inter-school competition through our new network of Competition Managers.
	As well as revitalising PE and school sport, we are delivering more opportunities in community settings by working with 34 national governing bodies of sport to strengthen links between schools and community clubs and by focusing investment through our new exciting 'Sport Unlimited' programme to reach semi-sporty children and young people, attracting them into a greater range of sustainable sporting activities.

Tourism: Finance

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department allocated for development of the tourism sector in each region of England in each year since 2003.

Barbara Follett: DCMS invested 49.9 million in VisitBritain and VisitEngland in 2008-09, toward marketing Britain overseas and marketing England domestically.
	Responsibility for tourism in the regions was taken over by the regional development agencies (RDAs) in 2003. Funding for the RDAs is not ring-fenced for particular economic sectors, such as tourism.
	In each year from 2003-04 to 2007-08, DCMS contributed 3.6 million to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Single Programme budget (the Single Pot) in respect of regional tourism responsibilities. The Single Pot, which was set at approximately 2.2 billion, 2.2 billion and 2.1 billion in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively, is allocated among the RDAs by DBIS. DCMS's contribution will be 3.5 million, 3.4 million and 3.3 million in these years.
	In 2007-08, the nine English RDAs invested almost 70 million in tourism.

World Cup: Football

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many overseas visits the Prime Minister's Special Representative for the 2018 World Cup Bid has undertaken; at what cost; and what visits are planned prior to May 2010.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Prime Minister's Special Representative for the 2018 World Cup has undertaken six overseas visits at a cost to the Department of 7,538.02.
	All these costs were incurred before the formation of the England 2018 board. All future travel costs will be met by England 2018.

Analgesics

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on analgesic drugs in each of the last three years.

Mike O'Brien: The following table provides the net ingredient cost (NIC) of analgesic drugs for both primary and secondary care. The primary care figures are for those drugs as listed in section 4.7 of the British National Formulary. The secondary care NIC figures are for drugs in the following Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) European Pharmaceutical Market Research Association (EPhMRA) sections: N02A0 Narcotic Analgesics, N02B0 Non-Narcotic Analgesics and N02C0 Anti-migraine Preparations.
	
		
			  Analgesic drugsNIC 
			  000 
			   Primary care  Secondary care 
			 2006 411,167.5 50,390.1 
			 2007 450,805.6 53,672.7 
			 2008 426,166.4 52,069.7 
			  Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) and Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index held by IMS Health

Care Homes: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes obtained each score against each of the national minimum standards in the latest year for which figures are available.

Phil Hope: We are informed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that the scores against each national minimum standard (NMS) for care homes, for the year ending 31 March 2008the latest year for which information is availableare as shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Performance of care homes against each NMS for care homes for older people as at 31 March 2008 
			   Standard not met with major shortfalls  Standard not met with minor shortfalls  Standard met  Standard exceeded 
			   No. of homes  % of homes  No. of homes  % of homes  No. of homes  % of homes  No. of homes  % of homes 
			 Information 198 2 1,778 18 7,362 76 380 4 
			 Contract 136 1 1,269 14 7,720 84 115 1 
			 Needs assessment 138 1 1,079 10 8,466 82 670 6 
			 Meeting needs 257 3 1,171 13 7,230 80 336 4 
			 Trial visits 18 0 218 2 8,503 95 211 2 
			 Intermediate care 80 4 157 7 1,798 84 101 5 
			 Service user plan 367 4 3,541 34 5,691 55 782 8 
			 Healthcare 186 2 1,551 15 7,760 75 882 8 
			 Medication 415 4 3,044 29 6,665 64 250 2 
			 Privacy and dignity 87 1 860 8 8,566 83 854 8 
			 Dying and death 64 1 867 10 7,214 84 481 6 
			 Social contact and activities 178 2 2,194 21 6,452 62 1,557 15 
			 Community contact 6 0 246 2 9,157 88 962 9 
			 Autonomy and choice 55 1 808 8 8,692 84 813 8 
			 Meals and mealtimes 83 1 1,205 12 7,718 74 1,371 13 
			 Complaints 89 1 920 9 8,983 87 390 4 
			 Rights 34 0 273 3 7,975 96 49 1 
			 Protection 203 2 1,597 15 8,316 80 264 3 
			 Premises 264 3 2,532 24 6,530 63 1,057 10 
			 Shared facilities 106 1 1,051 11 7,421 81 601 7 
			 Lavatories and washing facilities 242 3 1,695 19 6,866 75 359 4 
			 Adaptations and equipment 212 2 1,703 19 6,910 76 232 3 
			 Space requirements 54 1 604 7 7,839 88 403 5 
			 Furniture and fittings 133 1 1,659 18 7,010 75 493 5 
			 Heating and lighting 305 3 1,917 21 6,679 73 255 3 
			 Hygiene and infection control 169 2 1,694 16 7,693 74 822 8 
			 Staff complement 273 3 1,636 16 7,950 77 519 5 
			 Qualifications 100 1 1,510 15 7,456 72 1,236 12 
			 Recruitment 473 5 2,064 20 7,478 72 350 3 
			 Staff training 249 2 2,197 21 7,087 68 835 8 
			 Day to day operations 284 3 1,663 16 7,176 69 1,249 12 
			 Ethos 199 2 842 9 6,959 78 945 11 
			 Quality assurance 287 3 2,193 21 7,017 68 858 8 
			 Financial procedures 172 2 769 9 7,108 88 63 1 
			 Service user money 70 1 649 6 9,255 91 192 2 
			 Staff supervision 443 5 2,494 26 6,345 67 192 2 
			 Record keeping 440 5 2,559 29 5,789 65 116 1 
			 Safe working practices 386 4 2,703 26 6,878 66 415 4 
			  Source: CQC database 
		
	
	
		
			  Performance of care homes against each NMS for care homes for younger adults as at 31 March 2008 
			   Standard not met with major shortfalls  Standard not met with minor shortfalls  Standard met  Standard exceeded 
			   No. of homes  % of homes  No. of homes  % of homes  No. of homes  % of homes  No. of homes  % of homes 
			 Information 123 2 1,403 20 5,125 73 349 5 
			 Needs assessment 73 1 567 8 6,175 83 668 9 
			 Meeting needs 139 2 599 9 5,487 84 297 5 
			 Introductory visits 35 1 200 3 5,985 91 359 5 
			 Contract 195 3 1,161 17 5,148 78 131 2 
			 Service user plan 162 2 1,716 23 4,567 61 1,074 14 
			 Decision making 57 1 614 8 5,939 79 907 12 
			 Participation 55 1 533 8 5,436 83 505 8 
			 Risk taking 116 2 1,160 15 5,561 74 677 9 
			 Confidentiality 53 1 507 8 5,633 90 96 2 
			 Personal development 62 1 420 6 5,337 82 682 10 
			 Education and occupation 40 1 567 8 5,670 75 1,234 16 
			 Community links and social inclusion 45 1 491 7 5,915 79 1,064 14 
			 Leisure 72 1 676 10 5,145 75 948 14 
			 Relationships 4 0 158 2 6,560 87 782 10 
			 Daily routines 38 1 382 5 6,186 82 895 12 
			 Meals and mealtimes 43 1 564 8 6,167 82 733 10 
			 Personal support 43 1 451 6 6,155 82 868 12 
			 Healthcare 55 1 711 9 5,898 78 856 11 
			 Medication 160 2 1,865 25 5,193 69 299 4 
			 Ageing and death 76 1 686 12 4,901 83 259 4 
			 Concerns and complaints 31 0 701 9 6,427 85 367 5 
			 Protection 146 2 1,229 16 5,839 78 312 4 
			 Premises 207 3 1,947 26 4,714 63 669 9 
			 Space requirements 55 1 456 7 5,748 87 381 6 
			 Furniture and fittings 84 1 878 13 5,355 80 336 5 
			 Toilets and bathrooms 170 3 1,072 16 5,123 77 266 4 
			 Shared space 74 1 733 11 5,469 83 338 5 
			 Adaptations and equipment 92 1 616 10 5,255 85 189 3 
			 Hygiene and infection control 68 1 841 11 6,161 82 462 6 
			 Roles 78 1 459 7 5,621 90 120 2 
			 Qualities and qualifications 79 1 1,109 15 5,486 73 796 11 
			 Staff team 228 3 1,373 20 4,951 72 289 4 
			 Recruitment 257 3 1,288 17 5,567 75 340 5 
			 Training and development 130 2 1,470 20 5,239 70 624 8 
			 Supervision and support 179 3 1,211 18 5,046 75 312 5 
			 Day to day operations 152 2 1,273 17 5,231 70 863 11 
			 Ethos 109 2 434 7 5,176 81 679 11 
			 Quality assurance 177 2 1,657 22 5,061 67 603 8 
			 Policies and procedures 106 2 1,193 19 4,891 78 87 1 
			 Record keeping 223 3 1,629 26 4,423 69 103 2 
			 Safe working practices 182 2 1,843 25 5,185 69 302 4 
			 Conduct of the service 182 3 964 16 4,783 80 70 1 
			  Source: CQC database

Carers

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to assist carers.

Phil Hope: 'Carers at the heart of 21st-century families and communities' sets out a number of commitments that are being delivered over the next three years (2008-09 to 2010-11). A copy of which has already been placed in the Library.
	The Carers Grant is currently 240 million a year. It enables local authorities to develop innovative and personalised outcomes reflecting the needs of their local carers. It includes 25 million that councils can use to provide emergency cover for carers when they are suddenly unable to care. This means that, by 2011, we will have invested over 1.7 billion in supporting carers.
	We are investing over 255 million to support carers in the short term. This includes 150 million for planned breaks from carers, up to 38 million to enable carers to be better able to combine paid employment with their caring role through enhanced flexible working opportunities and increased skills training opportunities, and over 6 million to support young carers. This extra funding recognises the value of carers in today's society and their ever-growing importance in the future
	In the last couple of months, we have formally launched a national information service, Carers Direct. The Carers Direct helpline and website enables carers to access a wide range of information and advice on sources of support.
	On 15 July 2009, we announced the 25 primary care trusts and local authorities that have been selected to be the Carers Strategy Demonstrator Sites. These will provide evidence of good practice in respect of providing breaks for carers, health and well-being checks and national health service support for carers.

Carers

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that primary care trusts use funding provided for respite for carers;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of carers of people with Parkinson's Disease who had no respite break in the last 12 months.

Phil Hope: Additional funding of 150 million for respite care is included in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 primary care trust (PCT) revenue allocations. This is in addition to the Carers Grant paid to councils across England which is worth 240 million in 2009-10 and which they can use to support carers with breaks and other services.
	The NHS Operating Framework 2009-10 states that PCTs should work with their local authority partners and publish joint plans on how their combined funding will support breaks for carers, including short breaks.
	However, the actual level of spend in each year is for PCTs to decide locally in the light of their local circumstances, and priorities as set out in the NHS Operating Framework and Vital Signs. This includes a vital sign on the proportion of carers receiving a carer's break.
	The NHS Information Centre does not hold information on carers of people with Parkinson's Disease.

Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment spent on staffing in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many  (a) full-time equivalent and  (b) part- time staff are employed the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment;
	(3)  when Ministers in his Department last met staff of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment;
	(4)  what the budget of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment has been in each of the last five years;
	(5)  what the cost of the office premises of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment was in each of the last five years;
	(6)  what the salary of each member of the board of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment was in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The Committee on Carcinogenicity in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) does not employ staff. Ministers have not held meetings with members of COC in the last five years.
	Since 2006 the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have provided a secretariat for COC. The HPA meets the costs of several advisory committees. It is not possible to disaggregate the costs for this committee.
	The COC does not occupy office premises. COC meetings are either held in premises provided by the HPA or the Department.
	COC does not have a board. Members of the COC are not paid a salary. An attendance allowance 158 for the chairman and 123 for members, a reading fee 40 for the chairman and 30 for members and travelling expenses are provided.

Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many  (a) full-time equivalent and  (b) part-time staff are employed by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment;
	(2)  when Ministers in his Department last met staff of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment;
	(3)  what the budget of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has been in each of the last five years;
	(4)  what the cost of the office premises of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment was in each of the last five years;
	(5)  what the annual salary of each member of the Board of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment was in each of the last five years;
	(6)  how much the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has spent on staffing in each of the last five years;
	(7)  how much the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has spent on external consultancy in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) does not employ staff. Ministers have not held meetings with members of COMARE in the last five years.
	Since 2005 the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has provided a secretariat for COMARE. The HPA meets the costs of several advisory committees. It is not possible to disaggregate the costs for this committee.
	COMARE does not occupy office premises. COMARE meetings are either held in premises provided by the HPA or the Department.
	COMARE does not have a board. Members of COMARE are not paid a salary. An attendance allowance (141.50 for the chairman and 98.50 for members, a reading fee 28.50 for the chairman and 25 for members) and travelling expenses are provided.
	COMARE has not employed external consultants in the last five years.

Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the salary of each member of the Board of the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution was in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution spent on staff in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many staff the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution employs; and how many are  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time;
	(4)  how much the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution spent on external consultancy in each of the last five years;
	(5)  when Ministers in his Department last met staff of the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution;
	(6)  what the budget of the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution was in each of the last five years;
	(7)  what the cost of the office premises for the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollution in  (a) Leeds and  (b) London was in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) does not employ any staff. Ministers have not held meetings with members of COMEAP in the last five years.
	Since 2006 the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have provided a secretariat for COMEAP. The HPA meets the costs of several advisory committees. It is not possible to disaggregate the costs for this committee.
	COMEAP does not occupy office premises. COMEAP meetings are either held in premises provided by the HPA or the Department.
	COMEAP does not have a board. Members of COMEAP are not paid a salary. An attendance allowance (158 for the chairman and 123 for members, a reading fee 40 for the chairman and 30 for members) and travelling expenses are provided.
	COMEAP employed external consultants in 2007 to produce peer reviews of the latest report on Long term exposure to air pollution: Effect on mortality at a total cost of 4,000.

Dental Health: Children

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide guidance on dental hygiene to children.

Ann Keen: The Department has just published a revision of Delivering Better Oral Health: An evidence based toolkit for prevention. The aim of the toolkit, which has been distributed to all dental practices in England, is to ensure that dentists and members of dental teams give consistent, evidence based advice to patients and their families on the prevention of dental disease. The toolkit contains advice specific to children 0 to six years, children and young adults from age seven as well as for adults. Guidance includes tooth brushing, use of correct toothpaste and dietary advice. While access to national health service dentistry is improving and the toolkit advises parents and carers to take young children to the dentist, we have also taken initiatives to promote oral health in a community setting. For example, under the Brushing for Life scheme families with young children in areas with higher levels of dental decay are issued with a free pack of fluoride toothpaste and a toothbrushsupported by advice on oral hygienewhen they attend child health clinics, Surestart Children's Centres and other health and pre-school facilities.
	Delivering Better Oral Health: An evidence based toolkit for prevention has been placed in the Library, and is also available online at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_102331

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of employees in his Department are on a  (a) flexible working contract and  (b) job share employment contract.

Phil Hope: The Department recognises that flexible working allows staff to combine employment and a career with other responsibilities as well as meeting personal needs. The Department encourages staff to work flexibly through providing opportunities such as part time working, job sharing, term time only working and the use of flexitime. It also provides the technology to allow staff to work at home on occasions and has in place specific arrangements to allow parents, adopters, guardians and foster carers of children under 16 (or disabled children under 18) to apply to work flexibly.
	Managers have the discretion to agree flexible working arrangements locally, without making contractual changes. These arrangements are not recorded centrally so the percentage of staff working flexibly is not available but is likely to be a large fraction of the workforce.
	According to the Department's centrally held records (the Business Management System) at 1 April 2009 approximately 0.3 per cent, of civil servants in the Department were in job share arrangements. Approximately 9 per cent. were working part-time and approximately 0.2 per cent. were working in term time only.

Departmental Postal Services

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on Royal Mail services in each of the last two years.

Phil Hope: The Department has spent the following amounts on Royal Mail in the last two years:
	
		
			   Total spend () 
			 2007-08 170,608.43 
			 2008-09 138,416.00

Drugs: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on the implementation of drugs policies in each category in each of the last 10 years.

Gillian Merron: The following table sets out the Department's spending on the implementation of drug policies over the last nine years. Data for 2000-01 are unavailable. The table includes funding for the national treatment agency for substance misuse (NTA).
	
		
			  Department of Health expenditure ( millions to one decimal place) 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Adult PTB 142.0 191.0 236.0 253.0 300.0 385.0 398.0 398.0 406.0 
			 Mainstream funding (PCT) 145 131 200 204 208 212 202 208 (1)  
			 Young people's PTB 0.0 0.0 0.0 15 24 24.6 24.7 24.7 24.7 
			 Prison clinical services (IDTS) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.8 11.5 23.2 39.7 
			 NTA central costs 2.1 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.7 10.5 11.6 11.6 11.6 
			 Frank (DH contribution) 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.6 1.3 3.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 
			 Focal Point(1) 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 (1 )Not finalised  Notes: PTBpooled drug treatment budget,  PCTprimary care trust, IDTSintegrated drug treatment system. 
		
	
	The UK Focal Point collates data and information on drug misuse in the UK and reports it to the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction.
	This table does not include central voluntary sector funding, staff costs, and central programme costs, as these are more difficult to segregate out to demonstrate drugs specific expenditure.

Drugs: Misuse

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported incidents of overdoses of prescription drugs there have been of under 18 year olds in  (a) England,  (b) the North East and  (c) Teesside in each of the last 10 years.

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged  (a) under five,  (b) five to nine,  (c) 10 to 16 and (d) 17 to 18 years live in a household where (i) one or (ii) both parents have a substance abuse problem; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: Although the data requested is collected via the National Drugs Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) have identified problems with the quality of this data and it believes that releasing this data in its current form would be misleading. The NTA are addressing these data quality issues and expect to publish this data, with an assessment of its quality, alongside their annual statistics release later in this financial year.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2009,  Official Report, column 478W, on drugs rehabilitation, how many people in each age group dependent on each drug in each year were resident in each region.

Gillian Merron: The data for 2003-04 are not available centrally. There is no regional breakdown for 2004-05, as regional data was not available for every region that year. The information available, is for 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, and has been placed in the Library.

EU Law

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which his Department is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the statutory obligations upon it provided for in legislation introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The information is as follows.
	The Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1567)which implement Article 17(5) third subparagraph of Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
	Estimate of costs: Nil
	Any costs arising from these changes to the average maximum working week will fall to the national health service, not to the Department. Any additional work for the Department arising from this would be met within existing resources.
	Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) and Blood Safety and Quality (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/941)(1)
	Medicines for Human Use (Prescribing by EEA Practitioners)Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1692)(2)
	Medical Devices (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2936)(1)
	Medicines for Human Use (Marketing Authorisations Etc.) Amendment Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3097)(2)
	(1) To give effect to new EU obligations
	(2) To give effect to existing EU obligations
	Estimate of costs: Nil.
	Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency activities are mostly based on EC legislation they are already funded to do the work either through the medicines fees system or the Departments funding for devices. Therefore the MHRA would do the work within existing resources.

Exercise

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the economy of physical inactivity since 2002.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Department included estimates of the cost of physical inactivity, to the wider economy of England, of 8.2 billion a year in At least five a weekEvidence on the impact of physical activity and its relationship to health, published in 2004.
	More recently, a study of the primary and secondary health care costs attributable to physical inactivity was commissioned and published an estimate of these costs for every primary care trust in England as an Annex to Be active, be healthyA plan for getting the nation moving, published in February 2009.
	Copies of both publications have already been placed in the Library.

Food: Safety

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the reduction in the number of public analysts in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Food Standards Agency believe that there are two main factors that have led to the decline in overall numbers of public analysts in the United Kingdom. Firstly public analysts are retiring at a faster rate than they are being recruited; 60 per cent., of the current population are over 50 years and the rate for successful completion of the MChemA qualification is only one per year. Secondly, as the number of public analyst laboratories is falling there maybe less incentive for people to undertake the MChemA (which is a required qualification to become a public analysts and takes an average of six years to complete).

General Practitioners: Home Visits

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage GPs to make home visits outside surgery hours.

Mike O'Brien: The Department has not issued specific guidance on home visits for general practitioner (GPs) working during the out-of-hours period 6.30 pm to 8 am on weekdays, and the whole of weekends and Bank Holidays. The decision to undertake a home visit is a matter of clinical judgment at any time.
	All out-of hours services must be delivered to the National Quality Requirements, ensuring patients have access to consistently high quality and responsive care, regardless of where they live.
	The Requirements stipulate that:
	patients will be guaranteed a GP consultationincluding a home visit if there is a clinical need;
	patients are treated by the clinician best equipped to meet their needs in the most appropriate location; and
	services will be regularly audited to ensure that patients are receiving quality care.

Hospitals: Admissions

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions of patients of each age group there were in Suffolk where the primary or secondary diagnosis was drug-related in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The number of total admissions to hospital in the Suffolk Primary Care Trust area, which the primary or secondary diagnosis of the patient was drug related, broken down by age for 2003-04 to 2007-08 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   Year (of end of first period of care in patient's hospital stay) 
			  Age  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04 
			 Under 15 127 137 164 221 178 
			 15 to 64 1,559 1,559 1,564 1,514 1,732 
			 65+ 552 606 579 529 489 
			 Unknown 3  1   
			  Notes: 1. There is no way to distinguish between illegal and legal drugs and although the patient may be given a drug related diagnosis.  2. Finished admission episodes  A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  3. Data Quality  Hospital episode statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  4. Assessing growth through time  HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected from the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series.  Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. 5. Number of episodes in which the patient had a (named) primary or secondary diagnosisdrug related  These figures represent the number of episodes where the diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a HES record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record. 
			 6. The ICD-10 codes used to identify a drug related diagnosis are as follows (alcohol and tobacco codes have been removed as requested). Please note: A 'drug' can be defined, broadly speaking, as any substance that alters normal bodily function. Therefore we have included codes relating to noxious substances and solvents. It is not possible to identify in ICD-10 all diseases caused by drugs (legal or illegal) and there is no way to guarantee, that the admission was drug related. For example, a patient admitted for inguinal hernia surgery may also be dependent on a drug.  F11Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of opioids  F12Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids  F13Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of sedatives or hypnotics  F14Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cocaine  F15Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of other stimulants, including caffeine  F16Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of hallucinogens F18Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of volatile solvents  F19Mental and behavioural disorders due to multiple drug use and use of other psychoactive substances  F55Abuse of non-dependence-producing substances  K71.0 Toxic liver disease with cholestasis  K71.1 Toxic liver disease with hepatic necrosis  K71.2 Toxic liver disease with acute hepatitis  K71.3 Toxic liver disease with chronic persistent hepatitis  K71.4 Toxic liver disease with chronic lobular hepatitis  K71.5 Toxic liver disease with chronic active hepatitis  K71.6 Toxic liver disease with hepatitis, not elsewhere classified  K71.7 Toxic liver disease with fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver  K71.8 Toxic liver disease with other disorders of liver  K71.9 Toxic liver disease, unspecified  T36Poisoning by systemic antibiotics  T37Poisoning by other systemic anti-infectives and antiparasitics  T38Poisoning by hormones and their synthetic substitutes and antagonists, not elsewhere classified  T39Poisoning by nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics  T40Poisoning by narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens]  T41Poisoning by anaesthetics and therapeutic gases  T42Poisoning by antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic and antiparkinsonism drugs  T43Poisoning by psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified  T44Poisoning by drugs primarily affecting the autonomic nervous system  T45Poisoning by primarily systemic and haematological agents, not elsewhere classified  T46Poisoning by agents primarily affecting the cardiovascular system  T47Poisoning by agents primarily affecting the gastrointestinal system  T48Poisoning by agents primarily acting on smooth and skeletal muscles and the respiratory system  T49Poisoning by topical agents primarily affecting skin and mucous membrane and by ophthalmological, otorhinolaryngological and dental drugs  T50Poisoning by diuretics and other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances  T52Toxic effect of organic solvents  T53Toxic effect of halogen derivatives of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons  T54Toxic effect of corrosive substances  T55Toxic effect of soaps and detergents  T56Toxic effect of metals  T57Toxic effect of other inorganic substances  T58Toxic effect of carbon monoxide  T59Toxic effect of other gases, fumes and vapours  T60Toxic effect of pesticides  T61Toxic effect of noxious substances eaten as seafood  T62Toxic effect of other noxious substances eaten as food  T63Toxic effect of contact with venomous animals  T64Toxic effect of aflatoxin and other mycotoxin food contaminants  T65Toxic effect of other and unspecified substances  X40Accidental poisoning by and exposure to nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics  X41Accidental poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified  X42Accidental poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens], not elsewhere classified 
			 X43Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system X44Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances  X46Accidental poisoning by and exposure to organic solvents and halogenated hydrocarbons and their vapours  X47Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other gases and vapours  X48Accidental poisoning by and exposure to pesticides  X49Accidental poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified chemicals and noxious substances  X60Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics  X61Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified  X62Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens], not elsewhere classified  X63Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system  X64Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances X66Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to organic solvents and halogenated hydrocarbons and their vapours  X67Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other gases and vapours  X68Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to pesticides  X69Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified chemicals and noxious substances Y40Systemic antibiotics  Y41Other systemic anti-infectives and antiparasitics  Y42Hormones and their synthetic substitutes and antagonists, not elsewhere classified  Y43Primarily systemic agents  Y44Agents primarily affecting blood constituents  Y45Analgesics, antipyretics and anti-inflammatory drugs  Y46Antiepileptic and antiparkinsonism drugs  Y47Sedatives, hypnotics and antianxiety drugs  Y48Anaesthetics and therapeutic gases  Y49Psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified  Y50Central nervous system stimulants, not elsewhere classified  Y51Drugs primarily affecting the autonomic nervous system  Y52Agents primarily affecting the cardiovascular system  Y53Agents primarily affecting the gastrointestinal system  Y54Agents primarily affecting water-balance and mineral and uric acid metabolism  Y55Agents primarily acting on smooth and skeletal muscles and the respiratory system  Y56Topical agents primarily affecting skin and mucous membrane and ophthalmological, otorhinolaryngological and dental drugs  Y57Other and unspecified drugs and medicaments  Y58Bacterial vaccines  Y59Other and specified vaccines and biological substances  T80.0 Air embolism following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection  T80.1 Vascular complications following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection  T80.2 Infections following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection  T80.8 Other complications following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection  T80.9 Unspecified complication following infusion, transfusion and therapeutic injection  T88.0 Infection following immunization  T88.1 Other complications following immunization, not elsewhere classified  T88.2 Shock due to anaesthesia  T88.3 Malignant hyperthermia due to anaesthesia  T88.5 Other complications of anaesthesia  T88.6 Anaphylactic shock due to adverse effect of correct drug or medicament properly administered  T88.7 Unspecified adverse effect of drug or medicament  Z71.5 Drug abuse counselling and surveillance  T96.X Sequelae of poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances  T97.X Sequelae of toxic effects of substances chiefly non-medicinal as to source  Z50.3 Drug rehabilitation 
			 7. Suffolk PCT of residences  From 2006-07 onwards Suffolk as a whole was a PCT. Prior to this, Suffolk was made up of four PCTs. Reference should be made as follows for details.  2006-07 onwards  5PTSuffolk PCT  Pre 2005-06  5JRSuffolk Coastal  5JQIpswich  5JTCentral Suffolk  5JWSuffolk West  8. Ungrossed Data  Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).   Sources:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care  NHS Information centre for health and social care.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for  (a) inpatient admissions and  (b) first outpatient appointments was in each speciality in (i) Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust and (ii) England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mike O'Brien: The Department does not collect in-patient and out-patient data at specialty level, except for trauma and orthopaedics. The latest data for May 2009, showing in-patient and out-patient median waiting times for Derbyshire County primary care trust (PCT) and England is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Median in-patient waiting time for elective admission (weeks) May 2009 (commissioner based) 
			  Specialty  Derbyshire County PCT  England 
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 5.2 5.4 
			 All Specialties 3.6 4.3 
			  Source: Department of Health Monthly Waiting List Collection MMRCOM 
		
	
	
		
			  Median out-patient waiting time for elective admission (weeks) May 2009 (commissioner based) 
			  Specialty  Derbyshire County PCT  England 
			 Trauma and Orthopaedics 2.4 2.9 
			 All Specialties 2.3 2.8 
			  Source: Department of Health Monthly Waiting List Collection MMRCOM

Independent Reconfiguration Panel

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many staff the Independent Reconfiguration Panel employs; and how many  (a) full-time equivalent and  (b) part-time staff there are;
	(2)  how much the Independent Reconfiguration Panel spent on external consultancy in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how much the Independent Reconfiguration Panel spent on staffing in each of the last five years;
	(4)  what the salary of each member of the board of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel was in each of the last five years;
	(5)  what the cost of office premises occupied by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel was in each of the last five years;
	(6)  what the budget of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) is an advisory non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health and does not employ any staff directly. The Panel has a part-time chair who is a public appointment, a full-time chief executive employed by the NHS Business Services Authority, a full-time secretary to the panel employed by the Department, and one agency administrative staff.
	As stated in previous responses to the hon. Member 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 79W and 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 2062W; all expenditure associated with the running of the IRP is met by the Department. Expenditure on IRP functions is not separately identified or reported on within Departmental costs. The Department does not set an annual budget with the IRP. Since its inception in 2003, IRP expenditure has been authorised by the Department for annual costs to reflect expenditure reasonably incurred to address ad hoc and irregular requests from the Secretary of State for Health to the Panel for authoritative advice on contested service changes, referred to him by local Overview and Scrutiny Committees in line with the Panel's terms of reference.
	An exercise was undertaken recently to look at the detail of expenditure associated with the IRP's activity in 2008-09, some of the results of which are summarised in response to your questions.
	The total expenditure, including employment costs, of the IRP in 2008-09 was approximately 930,000.
	For the staff listed, the approximate total cost of salaries in 2008-09 was 250,000. The IRP has a number of members, details of whom can be found on the IRP's website:
	www.irpanel.org.uk/view.asp?id=47
	These members do not receive a salary but are entitled to claim a fee of 140 per day and normal expenses in line with Civil Service rates when they are engaged on IRP activity. The approximate total cost of members' fees was 22,000 in 2008-09. The Panel appoints external contractors to support specific reviews at an approximate cost of 312,000 in 2008-09.
	The approximate total of all costs associated with the IRP offices, including rates and utilities, was 130,000 in 2008-09. The approximate total of all costs relating to the provision of media and communications services was 80,000 in 2008-09.

Influenza: Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public awareness campaigns his Department has undertaken in respect of the  (a) interim and  (b) full National Pandemic Flu Service; what steps he has taken to measure public awareness; how much each campaign has cost; and what estimate he has made of levels of public awareness of each service.

Gillian Merron: The Department of Health is carrying out an awareness campaign to publicise the interim National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) which it is anticipated will be launched in late July in England. As the differences between the interim and full service are technical and will not significantly affect the public's experience of the service, the publicity will not refer to these differences.
	The campaign, which it is anticipated will start in late July, includes national press and radio advertising and digital search activity.
	The cost of the campaign is around 2.4 million.
	Levels of awareness of the service are being measured by tracking research which is being carried out to check awareness, knowledge and understanding of swine flu by the public.

Kidneys: Health Education

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2009,  Official Report, column 868W, on kidneys: health education, what plans he has to promote the Knowing the symptoms of Kidney disease self assessment tool on the NHS Choices website; and what plans he has to link it to other relevant websites offering information on kidney disease.

Ann Keen: The kidney disease self assessment tool on the NHS Choices website is being promoted via editorial features, clinical information articles, blogs, news stories and links across the national health service website and partner websites including primary care trusts. The self-assessment tool can be found at:
	www.nhs.uk/tools/pages/kidneydisease.aspx
	It is also included within the NHS Health Check area of the website and has been the lead story on the NHS home page on two occasionsat launch in January and in March to support World Kidney Day.
	The tool is published via a syndication programme on a growing number of partner websites including popular lifestyle websites such as iVillage, and AOL.

KPMG

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department paid to KPMG in each month of the last five years.

Phil Hope: The following table specifies the total payments from the Department to KPMG by month and year. The table will include all services provided by KPMG including management consultancy as well as finance, tax and audit services.
	
		
			   
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 January  121,906 318,791 707,812 676,065 594,755 
			 February  194,128 2,490,903 300,824 144,181 336,490 
			 March  534,310 1,661,831 335,898 393,844 1,894,728 
			 April 123,507 316,839 637,985 740,423 153,774 1,140,818 
			 May 628,152 456,454 952,587 897,818 384,591 795,688 
			 June 850,813 330,429 459,434 498,333 313,807 154,509 
			 July 31,725 348,490 658,102 344,328 0  
			 August 183,217 352,860 455,245 523,052 447,809  
			 September 1,048,185 1,098,623 759,560 589,571 111,625  
			 October 169,815 570,328 131,270 279,110 275,364  
			 November 459,627 540,022 134,092 186,671 39,269  
			 December 502,110 470,994 303,796 133,597 90,223  
			 Total 3,997,151 5,335,383 8,963,595 5,537,436 3,030,552 4,916,987

Monitor

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Monitor has spent on external consultancy services in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: We are advised by the chairman of Monitor, (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts), that the amount spent on external consultancy services in each of the last five years is as follows.
	
		
			   Monitor spend on external consultancy services (000) 
			 2004-05 7,880 
			 2005-06 6,259 
			 2006-07 3,099 
			 2007-08 1,536 
			 2008-09 1,901

Monitor

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Monitor has spent on staffing in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: We are advised by the chairman of Monitor, (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts), that it has spent the following amounts on staffing in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   Monitor spend on staff (000) 
			 2004-05 1,903 
			 2005-06 4,859 
			 2006-07 6,274 
			 2007-08 6,539 
			 2008-09 8,036

Monitor

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget of Monitor, the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts, was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: We are advised by the chairman of Monitor, (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts), that Monitor's budget in each of the last five years was as shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Budget (000) 
			 2004-05 16,011 
			 2005-06 17,744 
			 2006-07 12,552 
			 2007-08 13,500 
			 2008-09 16,175

Monitor

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the office premises for Monitor was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: We are advised by the chairman of Monitor, (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts), that Monitor has spent the following amounts on office premises.
	
		
			  Monitor 
			   Cost of office premises () 
			 2004-05 513,294 
			 2005-06 386,542 
			 2006-07 354,083 
			 2007-08 370,597 
			 2008-09 358,292

Monitor

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the salary of each member of the board of the Monitor was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: We are advised by the chairman of Monitor, (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts), that Monitor's executive chairman is the only full-time salaried member of the Monitor's board of directors. Monitor's four non-executive directors are remunerated for their attendance of board meetings and other work related commitments. Details of the remuneration of all Monitor's board members is published each year in Monitor's Annual Report and Accounts, which is laid before Parliament. An extract from Monitor's Annual Report 2008-09 including salary and remuneration of board members is set out in the following table. Copies of all previous annual reports and accounts are available on Monitor's website.
	
		
			  000 
			   2008-09 Salary Band  2007-08 Salary Band 
			 William Moyes Executive Chairman 235 to 240 215 to 220 
			  Non-executive directors   
			 Christopher Mellor 15 to 20 20 to 25 
			 Jude Goffe 25 to 30 15 to 20 
			 Elaine Murphy 15 to 20 15 to 20 
			 Stephen Thornton 10 to 15 15 to 20

Neurology: Research

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on research into  (a) Parkinson's Disease and  (b) all degenerative neurological conditions in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08.

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the NHS research budget for  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 was spent on research into (i) Parkinson's Disease and (ii) all degenerative neurological conditions.

Gillian Merron: National health service support for degenerative neurological disorder research amounted to 4.5 per cent. of the departmental research and development allocations made to NHS organisations in 2006-07 and to 5.1 per cent. of the allocations made in 2007-08.
	Details of NHS expenditure on research specifically concerned with Parkinson's disease is not available.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when Ministers in his Department last met staff from the NHS Business Service Authority.

Mike O'Brien: The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, (Ivan Lewis) met with Nick Scholte, chief executive of the NHS Business Services Authority on 18 January 2007.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget of the NHS Business Service Authority was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS Business Services Authoritynet operating revenue budget (excluding one-off funding, capital charges and capital expenditure) 
			   000 
			 2006-07 121,400 
			 2007-08 114,500 
			 2008-09 113,100 
		
	
	NHS Business Services Authority was established in 2006 and therefore figures can only be prepared for the last three years.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of office premises for the NHS Business Service Authority was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS Business Services Authoritycost of premises 
			   000 
			 2006-07 (1)6,426 
			 2007-08 7,009 
			 2008-09 8,247 
			 (1) 2006-07 is an estimated cost of premises based on current and previous years percentage of premises and fixed plant. 
		
	
	NHS Business Services Authority was established in 2006 and therefore figures can only be prepared for the last three years.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the salary of each member of the board of the NHS Business Service Authority was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS Business Services Authorityboard member salaries 
			  
			  Name  Start date  End date  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Nicholas Paul Scholte   142,106.99 146,081.67 157,460.77 
			 Alistair McDonald   101,088.35 103,540.80 110,995.68 
			 William John Smith   101,505.01 103,540.80 110,995.68 
			 Jim Orr 3 July 2006  87,068.81 119,071.92 127,645.12 
			 Roberta Barker 29 September 2008  0.00 0.00 53,083.33 
			 Mike Siswick  30 September 2008 88,279.26 88,080.45 52,831.20 
			 Paul Rich   60,000.00 60,780.00 62,117.16 
			 David Hulf   12,500.04 12,662.52 12,941.04 
			 David Teale   7,500.00 7,597.56 7,764.72 
			 Jeremy Strachan   7,500.00 7,597.56 7,764.72 
			 Anne Galbraith   7,500.00 7,597.56 7,764.72 
			 Michael John Harling   7,500.00 7,597.56 7,764.72 
		
	
	NHS Business Services Authority was established in 2006 and therefore figures can only be prepared for the last three years.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Business Service Authority spent on staff in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The information is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  NHS Business Services Authoritycost of staff 
			000 
			 2006-07 93,310 
			 2007-08 74,673 
			 2008-09 72,674 
		
	
	NHS Business Services Authority was established in 2006 and therefore figures can be prepared only for the last three years.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff the NHS Business Service Authority employs; and how many of those are  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time.

Mike O'Brien: The NHS Business Services Authority has a total staff headcount of 2,911 as at 17 July 2009. Of this figure, 2,112 are full time and 799 are part time.

NHS Business Service Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Business Service Authority spent on external consultancy in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS Business Services Authorityexpenditure on external consultancy 
			   000 
			 2006-07 181 
			 2007-08 121 
			 2008-09 738 
		
	
	NHS Business Services Authority was established in 2006 and therefore figures can only be prepared for the last three years.

NHS Innovation Expo

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 217-8W, on the NHS innovation expo, how many NHS staff attended the event; and how much delegates were charged to attend.

Gillian Merron: A total of 5,040 delegates attended the Healthcare Innovation Expo over the two days. We do not hold information on how many of those delegates were national health service staff; attendees came from a range of backgrounds, including NHS and social care chief executives, clinicians, front-line staff, managers, patients, voluntary organisations, academia and industry.
	In the majority of cases, no charge was made for attendance from the public sector.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the annual salary of each member of the board of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: Annual salaries are as set out in the following table. It should be noted that salaries are reported in bands of 5,000 and in 000, as recorded in NHS Institute annual reports. Notes appear as follows.
	
		
			  Board  m ember  Role  2005- 06  2006- 07  2007- 08  2008- 09 
			 Bernard Crump Chief Executive 100-105 155-160 160-165 175-180 
			 Simone Jordan Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer 60-65 120-125 115-120 130-135 
			 Helen Bevan Chief Officer Service Transformation 120-125 120-125 120-125 130-135 
			 Maire Smith Director of Technology and Product Innovation 65-70 115-120 115-120 (1)100-105 
			 Michael Cawley Director of Finance and Business Services 55-60 110-115 110-115 (2)35- 40 
			 Paul Allen Director of Leadership 60-65 110-115 110-115 115-120 
			 Roderick Anthony Acting Chief Finance Officer n/a n/a n/a (3)80-85 
			 Yve Buckland Chair and Chair of Shadow Nominations Committee 45-50 60-65 60-65 60-65 
			 David Bower Non-executive Director 0-5 5-10 5-10 5-10 
			 Tony Butterworth Non-executive Director 0-5 5-10 5-10 5-10 
			 Mike Collier Vice Chair and Chair of the Audit Committee 0-5 10-15 10-15 10-15 
			 Michael Deegan Non-executive Director 0-5 5-10 5-10 5-10 
			 Noorzaman Rashid Non-executive Director n/a n/a (4)0-5 5-10 
			 Carol Black Non-executive Director n/a 5-10 5-10 5-10 
			 Andrew Smith Non-executive Director n/a n/a 5-10 (5)5-10 
			 Joe Liddane Non-executive Director n/a n/a n/a (6)0-5 
			 Michael Lander Non-executive Director n/a n/a n/a (7)0-5 
			 Dennis Sherwood Non-executive Director 0-5 (8)0-5   
			 (1) Maire Smith left her post on 31 January 2009. in addition to basic salary, other contractual remuneration and benefits in kind received during the year, she also received an additional payment of 20,000 on termination of her contract. (2) Michael Cawley left his post on 31 July 2008 on secondment to East Midlands Strategic Health Authority. (3) Roderick Anthony commenced in post on 1 August 2008. (4) Noorzaman Rashid commenced his post on 1 October 2007 (5) Andrew Smith left his post on 31 January 2009 (6) Joe Liddane commenced his post on 1 March 2009 (7) Michael Lander commenced his post on 1 March 2009 (8) Dennis Sherwood resigned from his post on 31 October 2006 
		
	
	It should be noted that salaries for 2005-06 are not, in many cases for the full year as the NHS Institute was not fully established until July 2005 and so some salaries are for part year only.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement spent on staffing in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: This is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Staff costs (including seconded, contract and agency staff) 
			
			 2005-06 8,553,000 
			 2006-07 9,297,000 
			 2007-08 10,567,000 
			 2008-09 12,937,000

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: This is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Annual budget   
			 2005-06 61,912,000 
			 2006-07 56,231,000 
			 2007-08 73,531,000 
			 2008-09 (1)80,790,000 
			 2009-10 69,730,000 
			 (1 )Inc. National Library for Health costs, since transferred out.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has spent on external consultancy services in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: This information is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   External consultancy fees () 
			 2005-06 n/a 
			 2006-07 515,137 
			 2007-08 872,827 
			 2008-09 2,274,634

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) full-time equivalent and  (b) part- time staff the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement employs.

Mike O'Brien: As at May 2009 the NHS Institute has 184 total headcount23 are part time staff and 161 are full-time equivalent.

NHS Litigation Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when Ministers in his Department last met staff of the NHS Litigation Authority.

Ann Keen: Ministers in the Department last met with staff of the NHS Litigation Authority on 11 October 2005.

NHS Litigation Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the office premises for the NHS Litigation Authority in  (a) Holborn and  (b) Harrogate was in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: The NHS Litigation Authority provided the information requested in the following table.
	
		
			   
			   Holborn Rent  Harrogate Rent 
			 2008-09 653,000 49,800 
			 2007-08 653,000 49,800 
			 2006-07 653,000 49,800 
			 2005-06 653,000 49,800 
			 2004-05 653,000 49,800

NHS Litigation Authority

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Litigation Authority spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: The NHS Litigation Authority provided the information requested in the following table.
	
		
			   Consultancy expenditure () 
			 2008-09 127,213 
			 2007-08 15,207 
			 2006-07 3,319 
			 2005-06 1,025 
			 2004-05 3,691

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency spent on external consultancy services in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The figures from April 2004 until March 2009 are shown as follows:
	
		
			   Spent on external consultancy services ( million) 
			 2004-05 0.5 
			 2005-06 1.8 
			 2006-07 2.9 
			 2007-08 2.3

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The net operating cost for NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency in each of the last five years is as follows.
	
		
			
			 2004-05 24,617,000 
			 2005-06 26,779,000 
			 2006-07 26,698,000 
			 2007-08 24,713,000 
			 2008-09 24,492,000

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the  (a) Chester,  (b) London office and  (c) Reading office premises of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The cost for Chester is included within estates north which included Sheffield and South Normanton offices.
	
		
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Estates north 370,573 532,444 289,978 343,877 350,973 
			 London office   76,11 43,715  
			 Reading office 837,726 755,043 745,134 792,537 941,735

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the salary of each member of the board of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency was in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The salaries of the senior management board for the last five years are provided in the following table.
	
		
			2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  Leaving date 
			 Argyle N 0 0 75,168 73,904 71,405 31 October 2006 
			 Brindle M 0 82,741 80,611 78,756 74,298 31 August 2008 
			 Brohier C 77,703.36 72,791 0 0 0  
			 Cooper J 110,475 98,462 88,317 78,756 74,298  
			 Eaton D 0 0 110,853 108,989 106,331 30 June 2006 
			 Gerner A 0 0 69,613 67,100 0 1 January 2007 
			 Jackson E 0 0 0 0 111,490 5 April 2005 
			 MacCarthy H 72,295 63,283 61,349 60,000 0  
			 Rudd A 83,074 74,041 71,778 70,200 0  
			 Sutton R 0 116,548 113,664 On loan 106,167 27 September 2007 
			 Theaker C 73,589 72,146 69,613 67,100 0  
			 Uden C 116.611 114,325 110,830 108,393 105,749  
			 Warrington J 72,258 70,841 68,990 67,100 0

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency spent on staffing in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The following table provides the staff costs for NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency over the last five years.
	
		
			
			 2004-05 16,088,000 
			 2005-06 17,873,000 
			 2006-07 15,823,000 
			 2007-08 15,816,000 
			 2008-09 16,293,000

NHS: Accountancy

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2009,  Official Report, column 692W, on NHS accountancy, what assessment he has made of the effects on the revenue of NHS organisations of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in relation to  (a) accounting for private finance initiative deals,  (b) accounting for local improvement finance trust schemes and  (c) the accounting treatment of lease arrangements.

Mike O'Brien: In preparation for the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), from 2009-10, the Department has estimated the recurring additional revenue impact should all NHS local improvement finance trust (LIFT) and private finance initiative (PFI) schemes come onto the public sector balance sheet. For 2009-10 it is estimated that this would amount to 36 million and 148 million respectively. No similar assessment has been performed for lease arrangements but we expect the introduction of IFRS to have a minimal net financial impact.
	We are currently considering the Treasury Consolidated Budgeting Guidance published in June 2009, which deals with aspects of IFRS accounting, to determine how it should be applied to national health service. We are also in discussion with the audit Commission around the likely effect of IFRS on the revenue of NHS organisations.

NHS: Drugs

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his response is to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency consultation MLX357, on the medicines' supply chain, completed in March 2009.

Mike O'Brien: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reviewed the responses to the public consultation MLX357 and has now published those responses, together with an account of how the Government propose to take account of them. All these documents can be found on the MHRA's website at:
	www.mhra.gov.uk/Publications/Consultations/Medicinesconsultations/MLXs/CON033660

NHS: Finance

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is his policy that the balance of the 750 million of capital expenditure for community hospitals over five years announced by his predecessor the right hon. Member for Leicester West is to be spent; what the monetary value of that balance is; and over what period he plans to spend such balance.

Mike O'Brien: The Government continue to ensure that we provide support for the community hospital programme. Investment in community services remains a high priority for us. 28 projects have secured elements of the funding to a value of at least 250 million.
	The money has contributed to a range of services, including community hospitals, and more generally to other important and welcome community projects. I can confirm that the Department of Health and the Treasury will continue to consider schemes for community hospitals. They will be subject to the same approval process as all capital investment, thus ensuring that any further spending is affordable and that it provides value for money. For projects due to start in 2010-11, decisions will be subject to the strategies that PCTs produce for the development of their estates and the outcomes of the next spending review.

NHS: Finance

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the community hospital capital projects which have been approved under the 750 million of capital expenditure for community hospitals over five years announced by his predecessor the right hon. Member for Leicester West since the approval given in June 2008 to St Thomas', Stockport, New Build, stating in each case  (a) the name of the community hospital and its location,  (b) a brief description of the capital works,  (c) the capital cost approved and  (d) the date of approval.

Mike O'Brien: The 2005 Labour Manifesto promised a new generation of state of the art community hospitals. The 'Our health, our care, our say' (January 2006), reiterated the manifesto commitment and pledged to invest 750 million capital in modern community hospitals over five years from 2006-07. Policy details were set out in Our health, our care, our community: investing in community hospitals and services. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
	Since 'Our health, our care, our say', around 250 million of the 750 million has been allocated to 28 schemes.
	The following table outlines:
	the name and location of each community hospital;
	a description of the capital works;
	the amount of the Department's capital allocated to each scheme; and
	the date each scheme was approved.
	
		
			  Strategic Health Authority  Primary Care Trust  Name of scheme  Funding Model  Date scheme approved  Total Department of Health Funding ( million) 
			 North East Sunderland Teaching PCT Washington Primary Care Centre Public Capital December 2006 8.95 
			 North East Hartlepool PCT Hartlepool Primary Care facility Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) December 2007 3.0 
			 North West Stockport St Thomas Public Capital May 2008 26.6 
			 Yorkshire and Humber Calderdale PCT Kirklees PCT Calderdale and Kirklees Community Services Public Capital April 2007 13.08 
			 Yorkshire and Humber Rotherham PCT Rotherham Primary Care Centre Public Capital April 2007 0.96 
			 Yorkshire and Humber North Yorkshire and York Selby Health and Community Campus Public Capital December 2007 13.0376 
			 Yorkshire and Humber East Riding of Yorkshire East Riding Community Hospitals Public Capital December 2007 17.0 
			 East Midlands Nottingham County Teaching PCT Ashfield Community Hospital Public Capital April 2007 1.149 
			 West Midlands Worcestershire PCT Malvern Community Hospital Public Capital December 2007 19.22 
			 East of England Suffolk PCT Felixstowe General Hospital Public Capital April 2007 1.76 
			 London Haringey PCT Hornsey Community Hospital LIFT April 2007 1.7 
			 London Barking and Dagenham Barking Hospital Public Capital April 2007 5.0 
			 London Richmond and Twickenham Teddington Health and Social Care Centre Public Capital April 2007 3.98 
			 London Kensington and Chelsea St Charles Hospital, London Public Capital December 2007 10.5 
			 London Barnet Finchley Memorial Hospital Public Capital May 2008 9.9 
			 London Greenwich Eltham and Mottingham Public Capital May 2008 4.58 
			 South East Coast Hastings and Rother Hastings Primary Health Care Centre Public Capital April 2007 12.29 
			 South East Coast Eastern and Coastal Kent Health and Social Care at Kings Avenue Public Capital May 2008 9.0 
			 South Central Hampshire Gosport War Memorial Hospital Public Capital December 2006 6.122 
			 South Central Southampton Royal South Hants Hospital Public Capital April 2007 6.079 
			 South Central Portsmouth City Teaching PCT St Mary's Community Hospital Public Capital December 2007 17.1 
			 South Central Buckinghamshire Thame Public Capital May 2008 4.0 
			 South West Gloucestershire Yate Community Health Centre Public Capital December 2006 5.0 
			 South West Somerset Minehead Healthy Living Park Public Capital December 2006 24.5 
			 South West Bristol South Bristol Community Hospital LIFT April 2007 3.9 
			 South West Bath and North Somerset Keynsham Health Park Public Capital December 2007 5.8 
			 South West Gloucestershire PCT Berkeley Vale Public Capital December 2007 6.44 
			 South West Gloucestershire PCT North Cotswolds Public Capital December 2007 13.23

NHS: Foreign Workers

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to validate the qualifications of clinicians from outside the EU who seek to work in the NHS.

Ann Keen: The validation of qualifications of overseas clinicians wishing to work in the NHS is not the responsibility of the Department.
	In the United Kingdom, the health professions regulatory bodies are the competent authorities to assess whether an overseas clinician possesses relevant qualifications to work in the UKwhether within the NHS or the private sector.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Minister signed off each business case for the NHS IT programme approved since 2002.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested on which Minister signed off each business case for the NHS IT programme approved since 2002 is in the following table:
	
		
			  Number  Case  Date approved  Minister 
			 1 Spine, plus each of the five local service provider (LSP) clusters, delivering care record service (CRS)six approvals December 2003 Minister of State for Health and Secretary of State. 
			 2 Choose and book original contract September 2003 Minister of State for Health 
			 3 Adding PACS (picture archiving and comms systems) to the clusters [Note: Ministerial approval required only for the North East and Eastern clusters.] August 2005 Minister of State for Delivery 
			 4 GP systems of choice (patient record in general practice, linked to NP) December 2006 Minister of State for Reform 
			 5 Choose and book extension of contract October 2008 Minister for State for Health Services 
			 6 Extension of BT LSP contract to cover elements of the Southern programme for IT March 2009 Minister for State for Health Services 
			 7 Reset ('renegotiation') of the three LSP cluster contracts held by CSC March 2009 Minister for State for Health Services

NHS: ICT

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from which organisations his Department has sought advice on the NHS National IT Programme; and what advice each such organisation has provided.

Mike O'Brien: The Department has always prioritised the building of awareness of the national IT programme, and two-way communication with influential stakeholders including clinicians, senior national health service managers and information management and technology staff, the medical professional representative and health regulatory bodies, voluntary and patient organisations, the commercial sector, and suppliers.
	Before the programme's inception, a consultation document, 'Delivering 21st Century IT support for the NHS : National Specification for Integrated Care Records Service -consultation draft, issued in July 2002, that outlined the requirements for a national patient care records service and the national standards and specification which would underpin it, resulted in almost 200 responses from organisations and individuals. These were taken into account in drawing up the specification for the NHS care records service. Subsequently, in the programme's procurement and delivery process, and particularly in the development and testing phases, representative stakeholders have been routinely consulted to ensure that their requirements and concerns are taken into account.
	More recently, in 2006, the NHS Connecting for Health Evaluation Programme was set up with a view to assessing the usability, actual usage, functions and impact of pilot and delivered systems and services, and more generally to providing high quality, objective, third-party insights into the lessons learned and how systems can be improved. The University of Birmingham was commissioned to manage the Programme, including the independent procurement of evaluation services, and day-to-day management of the independent organisations conducting the evaluations.
	Further information about the process by which consultation and other aspects of public engagement is conducted on the development, implementation and evaluation of electronic health information services in the NHS is available at:
	www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/engagement/public

NHS: Pay

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in performance-related bonuses to staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) non-departmental public bodies which his Department sponsored and  (c) in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: The amounts paid in non-consolidated performance-related payments in the core Department in the past five years are presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Non-consolidated performance-related payments 
			
			 2004-05 643,744 
			 2005-06 900,255 
			 2006-07 1,073,151 
			 2007-08 1,461,062 
			 2008-09 1,895,150 
		
	
	The total sum of non-consolidated performance-related payments paid to staff in non-departmental public bodies which the Department of Health sponsors, is as follows.
	
		
			   Total () 
			 2004-05 10,319 
			 2005-06 76,531 
			 2006-07 144,718 
			 2007-08 176,296 
		
	
	Non-consolidated performance-related payments for senior staff in national health service special health authorities, strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and ambulance trusts, is subject to the national Very Senior Managers' Pay Framework. Under that framework, the performance-related pay fund is limited to 5 per cent. of the total pay bill. For 2008-09, the total pay bill for relevant staff was 160 million, and the performance-related pay fund was 8 million. Figures for previous years are not available although it is expected that more detailed figures covering this areas of NHS pay will be available in future years, following improvements to the Electronic Staff Record.
	Although NHS staff groups other than Very Senior Managers (VSMs) can be paid performance related bonuses, a specific fund for that purpose is only set aside for VSMs. Any other performance related bonuses paid out are subject to local agreement and/or other contractual arrangements between employers and staff and must be paid from existing local funding. Details of any such performance related bonuses paid to these NHS staff are not collected centrally.

Obesity

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make copies of the publication Medical management during effective weight loss available to NHS staff working with the obese; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: National health service staff can currently refer to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children.
	The Department was not consulted about this publication, but officials will discuss the publication with the national obesity forum, to consider its availability to NHS staff.

Palliative Care: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data is used by NHS healthcare commissioners to determine the demand for specialist palliative and neurological care in Tamworth constituency.

Gillian Merron: It is for individual primary care trusts (PCTs), including South Staffordshire PCT, within the national health service to commission services for their resident population, including end of life care and neurological care, based on an assessment of local needs and priorities. Strategic health authorities (SHA) are responsible for monitoring PCTs to ensure they are effective and efficient. The information sources used by PCTs to make these decisions are a matter for local commissioners to determine. My hon. Friend may wish to approach the chief executive of South Staffordshire PCT for these details.
	To support implementation of the End of Life Care Strategy for adults, published in July 2008, the NHS Operating Framework 2007-08 asked PCTs, working with local authorities, to undertake a baseline review of their end of life care services. These reviews have been helpful to PCTs as they have prepared their local strategic plans to deliver on the SHA visions for end of life care developed as part of the NHS Next Stage Review.
	Regarding neurological care, the information strategy published alongside the National Service Framework for Long-term (Neurological) Conditions outlines commissioners' information requirements and a series of local and national actions designed to meet those needs.

Rehabilitation

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money his Department has spent on the treatment of  (a) drug,  (b) alcohol,  (c) smoking and  (d) gambling addictions in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The following table sets out the Department's expenditure on drug treatment for the last five years.
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Adult PTB 300.0 385.0 398.0 398.0 406.0 
			 Mainstream Funding (PCT) 208 212 202 208 (1) 
			 Young people's PTB 24 24.6 24.7 24.7 24.7 
			 Prison Clinical Services (IDTS) 0.0 7.8 11.5 23.2 39.7 
			 (1) Not finalised  Note: Abbreviations: PTB - Pooled drug treatment budget, PCT - Primary Care Trust, IDTS - Integrated Drug Treatment System. 
		
	
	The information requested on smoking addiction treatment is not available in the exact format requested.
	The costs associated with the NHS Stop Smoking Services in each of the last five years can be found in Table 4.6 on page 43 of 'NHS Stop Smoking Services in England, April to March 2008.
	This publication has been placed in the Library.
	Primary care trusts are responsible for providing local health services, including gambling and alcohol addiction treatments and together with their strategic health authorities are responsible for deciding which services to plan, commission and develop to meet the health needs of their local communities. Information on this spend is not collected centrally.

Sexual Dysfunction

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions of each type of drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction were dispensed in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The following table provides the number of prescription items dispensed for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, as listed in section 7.4.5 of the British National Formulary (BNF), written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community, in England.
	
		
			  Drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction (BNF section 7.4.5) 
			   Number of prescription items (thousand) 
			  BNF chemical name  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Alprostadil 77.1 74.6 75.8 76.3 75.6 
			 Apomorphine Hydrochloride 21.6 16.6 7.1 0.0 0.0 
			 Other Preparations(1) 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Papaverine Hydrochloride 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.0 
			 Papaverine Hydrochloride/Phentolamine 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Papaverine Sulphate 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0  
			 Sildenafil (Erectile Dysfunction)(2) 1,024.3 1,015.0 1,042.4 1,112.2 1,185.4 
			 Tadalafil 266.3 370.4 438.1 503.0 569.5 
			 Vardenafil 74.0 112.6 136.1 146.5 153.3 
			 Yohimbine Hydrochloride 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 
			 Grand total 1,464.8 1,590.4 1,700.4 1,838.7 1,984.1 
			 '' Indicates no prescription items. '0.0' indicates less than 50 items (1) Includes Invicorp-1 injection solution auto-injector, Invicorp-2 injection solution auto-injector and Invicorp-2 injection solution 1 ml amp. (2) Does not include Revatio as this should only be prescribed to treat pulmonary hypertension (BNF 2.5.1).  Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) 
		
	
	We do not know the intended purpose for which prescription items are prescribed. Some drugs within BNF section 7.4.5 can be used to treat other conditions. There are drugs in other BNF sections which may be prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction.

Swine Flu

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority resilience and civil contingency planning in relation to the swine influenza outbreak.

Gillian Merron: The Government make no detailed assessment of preparedness of local authoritiesit is for them to decide how to meet their legal obligations to plan for an influenza pandemic under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Local authority compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act duties is assessed by the Audit Commission as part of their comprehensive performance assessment process.
	As members of Local Resilience Forums (LRFs), local authorities have played a full part in the development of local multi agency pandemic influenza plans. Over the last year, these plans have undergone validation by local responders and Government offices and at least one LRF plan per region has been tested via a table top exercise. Lessons identified will be shared locally.
	Plans are available on local LRF websites and can be accessed through the UK Resilience pages of the Cabinet Office website:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ukresilience/pandemicflu/plans/regional_plans.aspx

Swine Flu

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of which groups of workers in the public sector are most vulnerable to contracting swine influenza.

Gillian Merron: Influenza viruses are transmitted by respiratory droplets and direct or indirect contact with the virus, for example by touching a surface contaminated with the virus as a result of a sneeze.
	In the early stages of the pandemic, when there were few people infected with the virus, public sector workers delivering frontline health and social care to those patients were potentially at greater risk of becoming infected than the general population. However, this risk could be reduced by effective use of infection control procedures.
	With widespread transmission of the virus in the community, it is unlikely that any one population group is more likely than another to be infected by swine influenza.
	For those public sector staff working in frontline health and social care with known or suspected influenza patients, personal protective equipment including facemasks and gloves have been provided. There is also guidance for organisations on infection control procedures for staff to implement in their clinical practice.

Tobacco

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish his Department's consultation document on the future of tobacco control.

Gillian Merron: The Consultation on the future of tobacco control was published on 31 May 2008 and closed on 8 September 2008. The consultation report was published on 8 December 2008 and is available on the Departmental website, and can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_085114
	A Copy has already been placed in the Library.

Vulnerable Adults: Protection

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the  (a) membership and  (b) remit is of the (i) Programme Board and (ii) Advisory Board for the No Secrets review; on what dates each board has met; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the  (a) start and  (b) end date was for his Department's No Secrets consultation; whether his Department's response has been drafted and published in accordance with the timescale set out in the code of practice on consultation; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what steps his Department has taken to comply with the Government's Code of Practice on Consultation in relation to the No Secrets Review; what the  (a) membership,  (b) remit and  (c) dates of meetings are of the Programme and Advisory Boards for the No Secrets Review; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The membership of the Programme Board and Advisory Group is published in the consultation document, Safeguarding Adults: A consultation on the review of the 'No Secrets' guidanceDepartment of Health, October 2008. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
	The remit of the Programme Board was to review the effectiveness of present multi-agency safeguarding and adult protection guidance in producing positive outcomes for individuals at risk of abuse in the light of emerging information from recent cases, recent inspections and in the context of the Government's overall policy agenda in both health and social care, and to carry out a national consultation on these issues. The Advisory Group's remit was to advise on issues relevant to the consultation. The Programme Board met on 21 May 2008, 25 June 2008 and 9 October 2008. The Advisory Group met on 7 May 2008, 26 September 2008 and 12 November 2008.
	The consultation opened on 16 October 2008 and closed on 31 January 2009. The analysis of the consultation responses was published on 17 July 2009. The time taken to publish the analysis reflected the fact that some 12,000 people, including those with learning difficulties, older people, those with mental health problems and people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, participated in the consultation.
	The Department is a signatory to the Government's Code of Practice on Consultation and follows the code closely.

Wakefield NHS Trust: Manpower

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent  (a) medical consultants,  (b) other medical staff,  (c) nurses, (d) other professional staff,  (e) administrative and clerical staff and  (f) auxiliary staff were employed by Wakefield NHS Trust in each year since 1996-97.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. The information as is available is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS staff in specified organisations by main staff groups. Shown as full-time equivalents and as at 30 September each year2002-08 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			  Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust total 5,748 5,733 5,746 6,079 5,897 5,861 6,060 
			 
			 HCHS Medical and Dental Staff 544 543 597 641 654 686 686 
			 
			 All HCHS Medical and Dental Consultants 194 197 209 220 225 246 242 
			  O f which:
			 Medical Consultant 190 192 205 215 220 241 237 
			 
			 All HCHS Other Medical and Dental staff 350 347 388 421 429 440 444 
			  O f which:
			 Medical Other 343 343 380 414 421 430 435 
			 
			 All non-medical staff 5,204 5,190 5,149 5,438 5,244 5,176 5,375 
			 
			 Professionally qualified clinical staff 2,433 2,436 2,435 2,536 2,532 2,512 2,504 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 1,785 1,769 1,750 1,828 1,797 1,756 1,719 
			 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical (STT) staff 648 667 684 709 736 755 785 
			 Qualified Allied Health Professions 318 336 337 357 373 391 423 
			 Qualified Healthcare Scientists 0 118 175 182 188 187 187 
			 Other Qualified Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 330 213 172 170 175 177 176 
			 
			 Support to clinical staff 1,875 1,878 1,835 2,016 1,827 1,827 2,014 
			 Support to doctors and nursing staff 1,530 1,535 1,482 1,651 1,455 1,479 1,625 
			 Support to STT staff 345 343 353 365 372 348 389 
			 
			 NHS infrastructure support 891 868 871 877 876 829 849 
			 Central functions 327 297 325 326 282 265 269 
			 Hotel, property and estates 487 485 455 448 489 462 482 
			 Managers and senior managers 76 86 92 103 105 102 99 
			 
			 Other staff or those with unknown classification 5 7 8 9 8 8 8 
			 
			  Wakefield District PCT total 1,012 1,149 1,294 1,352 1,483 1,500 1,628 
			 
			 HCHS Medical and Dental Staff 19 19 23 22 22 29 26 
			 
			 All HCHS Medical and Dental Consultants 7 5 8 8 7 11 11 
			  O f which:
			 Medical Consultant 7 5 8 8 7 11 11 
			 
			 All HCHS Other Medical and Dental staff 12 13 14 14 15 18 15 
			  O f which:
			 Medical Other 8 8 9 8 8 12 9 
			 
			 All non-medical staff 687 787 943 995 1,100 1,116 1,274 
			 
			 Professionally qualified clinical staff 373 381 432 449 502 542 617 
			 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 312 318 356 364 395 428 486 
			 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 60 63 76 84 107 114 131 
			 Qualified Allied Health Professions 53 54 61 68 79 83 86 
			 Other Qualified Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 7 9 15 17 27 32 44 
			 
			 Support to clinical staff 155 228 327 347 386 412 457 
			 Support to doctors and nursing staff 125 192 288 300 326 354 395 
			 Support to STT staff 30 35 39 47 60 58 62 
			 
			 NHS infrastructure support 159 177 184 199 212 161 201 
			 Central functions 67 139 146 151 161 120 156 
			 Hotel, property and estates 2 3 4 5 5 7 9 
			 Managers and senior managers 90 36 34 44 46 34 36 
			 
			 All General Practitioners 209 211 212 218 231 225 233 
			 Practice Nurses 97 133 116 116 130 130 94 
			  Notes: 1. The structure of NHS trusts in the Wakefield area has changed over the period the data are requested for. In April 2002, the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust was formed from the partial-merger of the Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals NHS Trust and the Dewsbury Health Care NHS Trust. 2. In 2006, Wakefield District Primary Care Trust (PCT) was formed from a complete merger of Eastern Wakefield PCT and Wakefield West PCT. Most General Practitioners are not employed directly by the PCT, but perform NHS work within the PCT areas. 3. Work force statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data. Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens, any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses.  Source: The NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care

Wakefield NHS Trust: Waiting Lists

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for  (a) elective in- patient admission and  (b) first out-patient appointment in each specialty at Wakefield NHS Trust in each year since 1996.

Mike O'Brien: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is contained in a table that has been placed in the Library.

Biofuels

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Ofgem's ruling of March 2009 on biodiesel, glycerol and the Renewables Obligation on the production of bio-fuels from used cooking oil; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what incentives his Department provides for the production of biofuels from used cooking oil; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what his Department's policy is on the use of recycled waste materials in the biofuel production process.

David Kidney: Recycled waste biomass is an important source of renewable energy for transport fuel, and heat and electricity generation. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) requires suppliers of fossil fuel to ensure that a proportion of the fuel they supply is renewable. Under the RTFO, biofuels made from waste materials such as used cooking oil are eligible fuels and certificates can be issued for their supply. The Renewable Fuels Agency, the Administrator of the RTFO, has published data in their fourth quarterly report indicating that 37 million litres, or 3 per cent. of the biofuel used in the first year of the obligation, was made from used cooking oil. The Renewable Energy Directive requires that biofuels made from waste, including used cooking oil, receive double rewards under biofuel support schemes and it is intended that the RTFO will be amended accordingly following consultation. The Government also intend to provide financial support for the creation by industry of a biofuels demonstration plant in England, which would use organic waste material to produce bioethanol and renewable power.
	Fuels produced from used cooking oil continue to be eligible for the Renewables Obligation if they meet the requirements of section 32M of the Electricity Act 1989. In practice, the ruling by Ofgem is not expected to alter the production of biofuels from used cooking oil to a great extent. We are currently considering whether the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive into national law has implications for the treatment of biodiesel under the Renewables Obligation.

British Gas

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  with reference to paragraph 6 of the notes to editors of his Department's press release of 2 April 2008, whether each British Gas scheme involves  (a) discounts on council tax bills and  (b) cash back cheques;
	(2)  with reference to paragraph 6 of the notes to editors of his Department's press release of 2 April 2008, what funding his Department has provided to assist the 75 local schemes; and whether participating local authorities are required to subsidise the schemes;
	(3)  with reference to paragraph 6 of the notes to editors in his Department's press release of 2 April 2008, what estimate has been made of  (a) the cost to the public purse of the energy saving measures offered by British Gas including the council tax discount and  (b) the prices charged by companies other than British Gas for the same measures.

David Kidney: The scheme referred to is a private scheme run by British Gas to help it meet its household carbon saving obligation set by Government under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). CERT is an obligation on all suppliers with more than 50,000 domestic customers. Suppliers meet their targets by promoting and encouraging consumers to take up energy efficiency measures such as loft insulation and cavity wall insulation and thereby save energy and money. Suppliers are responsible for meeting the costs of CERT, which are expected to be some 3.2 billion over the course of the three-year scheme to March 2011. Suppliers use a number of innovative schemes and partnerships to meet their targets, including linking up with local authorities, registered social landlords and charities.

Buildings: Carbon Emissions

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the levels of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from  (a) heating for buildings and  (b) air conditioning in buildings per head of population (i) in each region and (ii) in England.

Joan Ruddock: Emissions resulting from heating and cooling buildings can be assessed at a UK-wide level, but they are not currently disaggregated into constituent counties or regions.
	In June 2007, the DTI estimated CO2 emissions from all heat use in the domestic and services sectors of the UK to be 27 per cent. of total UK CO2 emissions, equivalent to 150 Mt CO2, or around 2.5 tonnes CO2 per capita.
	Building Research Establishment (BRE) estimates the current annual CO2 emissions from cooling non-domestic buildings in the UK to be approximately 3 Mt CO2, equivalent to around one twentieth of a tonne of CO2 per capita annually. Residential sector cooling is not thought to make a significant contribution to UK CO2 emissions at present.

Carbon Emissions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what  (a) short-term and  (b) long-term plans the Government has to contribute towards meeting the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent. by 2050; and what steps the Government plans to take in co-operation with other developed nations to reduce levels of such emissions.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Government's framework for managing and responding to climate change is set by the 2008 Climate Change Act. The Act sets a target for the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to at least 80 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2050, and the Government are required to set and meet five year carbon budgets to define the pathway to this target.
	The 2050 target was adopted in October 2008, following advice from the Committee on Climate Change. The Committee advised that this was an appropriate UK contribution to a global deal aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to between 20 billion tonnes and 24 billion tonnes by 2050 (between 50 and 60 per cent. below current levels).
	The Act was also amended earlier this year to require us to set the third carbon budget, covering the period 2018-22, at a level that is equivalent to a reduction in emissions of at least 34 per cent. below 1990 levels, as an important interim target towards 2050. The first three carbon budgets were approved by Parliament in May. On 15 July, we published the 'UK Low Carbon Transition Plan', which sets out how we will meet those carbon budgets through investment in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies such as renewables, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage. It also committed us to producing a longer term roadmap for the transition to a low carbon UK for the period 2020 to 2050 by next spring.
	Internationally, the UK is working with other developed countries to agree at the UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009 a comprehensive, global and long-term framework for addressing climate change that puts us on the right pathway for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent. by 2050. The Government's proposals are set out in 'The Road to Copenhagen' (Cm 7659), copies of which are in the Library of the House.
	Following a new and ambitious international agreement, the Government will tighten the level of the UK carbon budgets, taking into account the outcome of the EU's effort sharing negotiations and further advice from the Committee on Climate Change.

Carbon Trust: Energy Saving Trust

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells of 25 March 2009,  Official Report, column 497W, on the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust, 
	(1)  how much had been spent by the Carbon Trust on payments to  (a) Weber Shandwick,  (b) TLG Communications Ltd and  (c) Grayling Political Strategy on the latest date for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much had been spent by the Energy Saving Trust on payments to  (a) Postif Politics,  (b) Stratagem,  (c) Weber Shandwick Public Affairs and (d) Geromino Commuications on the latest date for which figures are available.

Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust are both private companies limited by guarantee, therefore details of payments made are a matter for the Trusts' Boards.

Departmental Campaigns

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what public campaigns have been undertaken by his Department since its establishment; and what the  (a) resource,  (b) capital expenditure and  (c) staffing costs of each were of each such campaign.

Joan Ruddock: Since September 2008 to June 2009, DECC has spent approximately 4.8 million exclusive of VAT on the Act On CO2 marketing campaign.
	DECC has not incurred any capital expenditure costs or additional staffing costs on the campaign.

Departmental Procurement

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes.

Joan Ruddock: Our procurement service provider (Department of Business, Information and SkillsBIS) is considering how best to utilise the www.supply2.gov.uk portal for advertising tenders until the opportunities portal is available at the end of 2010 (Glover Report Recommendation 1) and how to identify SME expenditure data (Recommendation 12) in an efficient manner.
	The Department is currently preparing an Innovation Procurement Plan (Recommendation 8).
	Along with BIS, the Department is waiting for the Office of Government Commerce guidance on the implementation of the remaining recommendations.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells of 20 April 2009,  Official Report, column 305W, on departmental public relations, what the monetary value is of the contract with Kreab Gavin Anderson to provide public relations advice to his Department.

Joan Ruddock: The Kreab Gavin Anderson contract is for up to 320,000 for the period 9 May 2008 to 31 March 2010 inclusive. Kreab Gavin Anderson are contracted to provide expert advice and support on the renewable energy finance community including on the impact of proposed measures on renewable finance and investment prospects. As part of this contract they also support the Department's work by arranging seminars, meetings with investors, and wider awareness raising with investors and media on developments in renewable energy policy.

Departmental Work Experience

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many interns work in his Department; what terms of reference apply to their appointment; what remuneration they receive; and how long on average an intern appointment lasts.

Joan Ruddock: DECC currently has one intern. DECC's terms of reference for interns are still being developed, and are based on giving an individual a personal development opportunity and introducing them to the civil service, while completing a meaningful piece of work.
	Remuneration for this contract is based on 29,191 (pro rata) which is in line with the DEFRA HEO starting salary.
	This contract is for three months.

E.ON: Corporate Hospitality

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many of his Department's employees accepted corporate hospitality from E.ON in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; how many have done so in 2009 to date; and what hospitality was received in each case.

David Kidney: Since 2007 DECC's employees have received corporate hospitality from EON on the following occasions:
	
		
			   Nature of hospitality 
			  2007  
			 5 July Lunch 
			 December Lunch 
			   
			  2008  
			 24 January Dinner and private viewing at the Royal Academy 
			 29 January Light buffet supper (received from Eon Ruhrgas) 
			 20 February International Petroleum week Dinner (received from Eon Ruhrgas) 
			 9 June Royal Academy of Engineering Awards Dinner (received from Eon Engineering) 
			 19 November Dinner 
			   
			  2009  
			 11 May Guest at Eon sponsored reception 
			 4 June DECC staff visit to Eon Rushcliffe on Soar power station and Research and Development Centre (7 DECC participants). Sandwich lunch, small gift bag and transport to and from the station. 
		
	
	Hospitality received by my officials follows Civil Service Guidance that any hospitality should be
	conventional, normal and reasonable.

Energy Supply

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what monitoring his Department is undertaking of the effects on  (a) payment method preference,  (b) levels of debt and  (c) levels of disconnections of domestic energy consumers of (i) recent and (ii) anticipated increases in energy prices; and how much funding his Department has allocated to provide domestic energy customers with energy efficiency advice and information.

David Kidney: DECC analyses data from a number of sources on conditions in the household energy supply markets. DECC monitors and publishes data on average bills by payment method, and on numbers of customers on different payment methods. Ofgem monitors and publishes data on levels of debt and on disconnections.
	The Government provide the Energy Saving Trust with annual grant funding (circa 37 million in 2009-10) to manage the Act on CO2 helpline and advice centres. This provides consumers a central free source of impartial advice on energy efficiency, microgeneration and renewable energy, low carbon transport, water efficiency and waste reduction, as well as easy access to a range of energy efficiency offers.

Energy: Meters

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evidence his Department has received from the Energy Retail Association on the costs of those smart metering; and what further steps his Department has taken to establish implementing costs.

David Kidney: The Department published Impact Assessments on 11 May, which set out the costs and benefits of different options for rolling out smart meters to both domestic and SME/public sector energy consumers. In preparing these assessments my Department took into account information on costs and benefits from a wide range of sources, including information provided by energy supply companies who are members of the Energy Retailers Association.

Energy: Prices

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how many households were on a social tariff from their energy supplier in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of households in receipt of a social tariff from their energy supplier who paid less than they would on the cheapest non-social tariff offered by that supplier in each of the last five years.

David Kidney: Ofgem monitors the energy suppliers' social programmes on behalf of Government. They have published data on the number of customer accounts on a social tariff from their energy supplier for each of the last two years to 31 March 2008. Their latest report also estimated that, as at the end of October 2008, over 800,000 customer accounts were on a social tariff. In addition this report compared the range of savings between a supplier's social tariff and their cheapest non-social tariff offered during 2007-08. Numbers of customers on social tariffs and the range of savings from them are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Supplier/tariff name  Energy type  Total customer accounts on a social tariff as at 31 August 2007  Total customer accounts on a social tariff as at 31 March 2008( 1)  Range of savings over supplier's best offer, 2007-08( 2) 
			 British Gas/Essentials Electricity 83,000 113,584 -59(3) 
			  Gas 197,000 200,845 -9 
			  Total 280,000 314,429  
			  
			 EDF Energy/Energy Assist Electricity 45,154 46,130 46 to 55 
			  Gas 14,825 15,742 67 to 91 
			  Total 59,979 61,872  
			  
			 E.ON (Powergen)/Social StayWarm Electricity  26,833 Because of the structure of this tariff it is not possible to compare it for this analysis. 
			  Gas  25,495  
			  Total 10,373 52,328  
			  
			 Npower/First Step Electricity 1,415 2,108 7 to 28 
			  Gas 1,042 1,398 17 to 38 
			  Total 2,457 3,506  
			  
			 Scottish Power Social tariff launched on 1 April 2008 
			  
			 SSE/EnergyPlus Care Electricity 7,538 15,282 36 to 50 
			  Gas 4,983 11,077 32 to 56 
			  Total 12,521 26,359  
			  
			 Total Electricity 137,107 203,937 n/a 
			  Gas 217,850 254,557  
			  Total 365,330 458,494  
			 (1) To 31 March 2008, Ofgem defined a social tariff as needing to be at least equal to the supplier's standard direct debit tariff. Going forward, to qualify as a social tariff it has to be at least as good as the lowest tariff that supplier offers in the customer's area. (2) As these savings were calculated over the year 2007-08 and the numbers on a social tariff were given as at 31 March 2008, the exact numbers benefiting from a social tariff, below a suppliers best offer, cannot be estimated. (3) Negative figures illustrate the average cost disadvantage of the social tariff over the best offer from the same supplier. 
		
	
	Copies of these reports can be found online at:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Suppliers/CSR/Documentsl/Review%20of%20suppliers%20voluntary%20initiatives.pdf
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Suppliers/CSR/Documentsl/CSRupdateopenletter23507.pdf
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Suppliers/CSR/Documents1/Monitoring%20Suppliers%20Social%20Spend%20171.08.pdf

Energy: Prices

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding his Department is providing to finance the mandated social price support for household energy, as announced on page 12 of the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan.

David Kidney: By the final year of the voluntary agreement in 2010-11, energy suppliers will be spending 150 million per year on social programmes. Subject to the parliamentary timetable, the new mandated social price support policy will increase the funding made available by energy suppliers above 150 million per year after March 2011. In announcing this policy, our aim is to give the vulnerable households receiving help from energy suppliers under the current voluntary arrangements the confidence that similar help will be available after the voluntary agreement comes to an end.
	The Government will bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity and will give more detail at around the time the legislation is introduced.

Fuel Poverty

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to reduce fuel poverty if energy prices increase in winter 2009-10.

David Kidney: Since 2000, we have spent 20 billion on fuel poverty benefits and programmes and we will continue to develop and implement a range of measures to tackle the drivers of fuel poverty, poor energy efficiency, low incomes and high energy prices.
	The Government's Warm Front scheme has a budget of 950 million during 2008-11 for the installation of heating and insulation measures available to vulnerable householders in receipt of a qualifying disability or income related benefit. In addition, DECC has just laid in legislation a 20 per cent. increase to the carbon emissions reduction target which will lead to energy suppliers making available an estimated 3.2 billion during 2008-11, 40 per cent. of which must be targeted at a priority group of low income consumers who are in receipt of benefits or are aged 70 and over. In addition, last September, the Prime Minister announced the Community Energy Saving Programme. This will deliver 350 million of energy efficiency measures to around 90,000 homes in 100 low income areas across Great Britain over a three-year period.
	To boost the income of vulnerable households, the increase in winter fuel payments, of an extra 50 for those aged 60-79 and 100 for those aged over 80, announced for the winter 2008-09, will continue for the coming winter.
	On prices, under the voluntary agreement with suppliers, spend on programmes of social assistance, including discounted social tariffs, will be 125 million this year, rising to 150 million next year. We have also recently announced in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, the intention to create a policy of mandated social price support at the earliest opportunity with resources increased compared to the existing voluntary agreement.

Fuels: Power Stations

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of  (a) oil,  (b) gas,  (c) coal and  (d) uranium used in power plants came from (i) UK resources and (ii) imported fuels in the most recent year for which figures are available.

David Kidney: The Department does not collect data on the source of fuels used in power plants. However, the following table shows, for oil, gas and coal, the proportions of total UK supply accounted for by imports (net of exports) and UK resources in 2008 and the proportion of total supply of each fuel used for electricity generation.
	The UK does not have exploitable natural uranium resources, therefore all natural uranium used for fuel in UK nuclear power stations is sourced overseas. Reprocessed uranium sourced from the Sellafield reprocessing plant has been processed into uranium for use as fuel. However, the Department does not hold data on the proportions of these used in power plants.
	
		
			   Oil (Thousand tonnes)  Gas (GWh)  Coal (Thousand tonnes) 
			 Net imports 11,664 284,565 43,165 
			 UK resources: production, stock changes and transfers 68,969 806,231 15,043 
			 Total supply 80,633 1,090,797 58,208 
			 Net imports proportion (percentage) 14.5 26.1 74.2 
			 UK resources proportion (percentage) 85.5 73.9 25.8 
			 Proportion of total supply used for electricity generation (percentage) 1.1 34.7 82.1 
			  Source: Tables 2.1, 3.1, 3.2 and 4.1, in Energy Trends, June 2009, available at: http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/statistics/publications/dukes/page45537.html

Gloucestershire Energy Strategy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress has been made in implementing the Gloucestershire Energy Strategy; and what recent discussions his Department has had with those responsible for the strategy.

David Kidney: Implementation of the Gloucestershire Energy Strategy is the responsibility of Gloucestershire county council. Government office South West (representing a number of Departments including DECC) have had several discussions with Gloucester county council and its partner organisations concerning the strategy and in particular its links with the Local Area Agreement which has a strong commitment to tackling climate change and fuel poverty.

Industrial Diseases: Nottinghamshire

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many cases of  (a) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and  (b) vibration white finger there are in the post code area (i) NG20 and (ii) DN22.

David Kidney: The following table provides the number of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Vibration White Finger (VWF) claims registered under the British Coal litigation schemes in the postcode areas of NG20 and DN22.
	
		
			  Claims registered (at 19 July 2009) in postcode areas  NG20 and DN22 
			   Registered claim count 
			  Postcode District NG20  
			 COPD 5,321 
			 VWF 3,503 
			 TOTAL 8,824 
			   
			  Postcode District DN22  
			 COPD 1,007 
			 VWF 750 
			 Total 1,757

Insulation: Housing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding is available to local authorities for programmes for loft insulation  (a) in (i) private and (ii) public residential housing and  (b) for community buildings.

Joan Ruddock: No central Government funding is provided to local authorities for loft insulation programmes in social housing. However, local authorities can use money provided through the major repairs allowance in the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy System and Supported Capital Expenditure for the Decent Homes Programme to install loft insulation in council owned homes. Local authorities also work with energy suppliers under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) to identify homes that could benefit from measures under this scheme.
	For private sector homes, Government has invested over 1 billion between 2008-09 and 2010-11 to help improve private sector housing for the most vulnerable. Allocations are paid to local authorities through the Regional Housing Pot as un-ring-fenced capital grants based on recommendations made by the Regional Housing Boards. In addition to tackling disrepair, the funds are often used to assist in the provision of energy efficiency measures.
	No central Government funding is provided to local authorities for insulating the lofts of community buildings. However, loft insulation is a relatively low-cost measure that provides substantial energy savings, so local authorities should expect a short payback period for their investment.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much of the 45 million announced in Budget 2009 for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme is projected to be spent in 2009-10.

David Kidney: 30 million of the 45 million announced in Budget 2009 for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme is projected to be spent in 2009-10.

Low Carbon Energy

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 7.28 of Budget 2009, how the 155 million of funding allocated to his Department for low-carbon energy and green manufacturing will be spent.

Joan Ruddock: The funding will deliver targeted support for sectors with high growth rate potential such as offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, and remove barriers to low carbon investment in the UK. The funding will also support innovative trialling of technologies in local community-based settings.
	Spending allocation decisions taken so far by Ministers total up to 81.2 million and comprise:
	up to 22.5 million for the Marine Energy Proving Fund;
	up to 10 million for the Green Villages, Towns and Cities Challenge;
	up to 6 million for renewable construction materials;
	up to 6 million for 'smart grid' innovation;
	up to 6 million for geothermal energy;
	up to 4 million for Pay as You Save Pilots;
	up to 1.7 million for the Whitehall District heating scheme; and
	up to 25 million towards the UK Innovation Investment Fund.
	The Energy White paper and Low Carbon Industrial strategy has more detail on these allocations.
	Further announcements on projects and sectors to be funded will be made over the coming months. Where it is possible to bid for elements of funding, the process for doing so will be made clear when funding is announced.

National Decommissioning Authority: Finance

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much and what proportion of the National Decommissioning Authority's budget has been spent on funding university research in each of the last 10 years; on what research projects this funding has been spent; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: Funding for university research in support of its core mission to decommission and clean up the nuclear legacy is a key part of the NDA's skills strategy. During FY 2008-09, the NDA spent approximately 1.4 million on supporting university research through its Direct Research Portfolio and the Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD). Funding in previous years was not broken down so as to differentiate between university and other research but is estimated to have been in the order of around 1 million in each year. The NDA has also made a commitment of 10 million to support the establishment of the Dalton Cumbria facility, a joint venture with the university of Manchester which will see the establishment of a world-class research centre specialising in radiation science and nuclear engineering decommissioning.

Nuclear Power Stations: Decommissioning

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the  (a) cost to date and  (b) future cost to the public purse of decommissioning nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: The lifetime costs of decommissioning and cleaning up the fleet of Magnox nuclear power stations, only two of which are still operational, is set out in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's annual report and accounts 2008-09 published on 20 July 2009. The total discounted cost is estimated to be 9,233 million.
	The Nuclear Liabilities Fund (NLF) is responsible for meeting the decommissioning cost of British Energy's existing nuclear power stations, together with defuelling costs and certain British Energy uncontracted liabilities. As at 31 March 2009, the total discounted cost (at a rate of 2.2 per cent.) of the NLF's future liability is estimated to be 4,500 million.
	Any developers of new nuclear power stations will be obliged to meet the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management and disposal costs.

Nuclear Power Stations: Pollution

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much in fines the Nuclear Inspectorate has imposed on  (a) companies,  (b) local authorities and  (c) individuals in respect of each type of pollution incident in each region in each year since 1997.

David Kidney: The Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) does not impose fines directly. It may prosecute duty holders for breaches of health and safety law. If found guilty those duty holders may have fines imposed on them by the courts. In the following cases heard for breaches of health and safety law since 1997 fines were imposed after prosecutions were instigated by the NII. In all cases the fines were imposed on companies.
	
		
			  Date of hearing  Name of defendant  Fine imposed ()  Costs awarded against defendant () 
			 25 November 1999 British Energy 30,000 5,700 
			 27 July 2000 Magnox Electric Ltd. 18,000 6,100 
			 18 January 2002 UKAEA Ltd. 4,000 57,800 
			 18 January 2002 AEA Technology plc 4,000 57,800 
			 6 March 2002 British Nuclear Fuels plc 15,000 4,500 
			 16 October 2006 British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd. 500,000 67,000 
			 12 July 2007 UKAEA Ltd. 15,000  
		
	
	The events giving rise to these prosecutions did not necessarily involve pollution. Events involving environmental pollution are primarily matters for the appropriate environmental agency.

Nuclear Power: Finance

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Castle Point, of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 38, on the G8 Summit, whether the 20 billion to be spent on nuclear power in the UK in the next few years will be from public funds.

David Kidney: As stated in the Nuclear White Paper, it will be for energy companies to fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations in the UK. Government estimates show that to replace existing capacity alone, 21 billion will need to be invested by energy companies.

Nuclear Power: Security

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the level of security of UK nuclear facilities from radiation leaks in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: HSE, who have responsibility for the day to day regulation of the nuclear industry, make regular assessments on the causes of incidents, including leaks, within the nuclear industry. Through HSE's programme of regular inspection of nuclear facilities they are able to ensure that nuclear operators are complying with relevant health, safety and security legislation and ensure that industry, as a whole, learn from individual incidents. Ministers in DECC periodically meet with HSE to ensure that the framework in place remains robust in managing the risk of future leaks.

Nuclear Power: Waste Disposal

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what categories of costs will be included in the full share of waste management and disposal cost; which energy companies funding, developing and building new nuclear power stations will be required to meet, as referred to on page 63 of the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan.

David Kidney: The Government consider that an operator's full share of waste management and disposal costs is:
	the costs that are directly attributable to disposing of new build higher activity waste into a geological disposal facility;
	a contribution towards the fixed costs of constructing such a geological disposal facility;
	a significant risk premium over and above these costs to take account of uncertainties around the cost of constructing such a facility and the time when it will be able to accept new build waste; and
	the cost of managing that waste pending disposal (or pending transfer for disposal).
	Separately, operators are also responsible for the full cost of disposing of low level waste in a disposal facility and managing this waste pending its disposal.

Nuclear Reactors

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how close to sea level each of the UK's  (a) existing and  (b) planned (i) nuclear reactors and (ii) nuclear waste storage facilities is; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: A simple comparison of sea level with ground level can be misleading, as it takes no account of local sea defences or local topography, both of which will be influential in determining the likelihood and magnitude of any flooding either on the site or its immediate environs.
	The safety of existing sites (including associated on site waste storage and the low level waste repository near the village of Drigg) regarding sea level and flood risk is monitored by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. A site or sites for geological disposal of higher activity radioactive waste has not yet been identified. The design and safety case for any facility will consider the effects of sea levels, and changes in sea levels, on operational and post closure performance.
	The Government are running a strategic siting assessment to identify sites that are potentially suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power stations. The Government response to the consultation on the SSA criteria and process:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file49865.pdf
	outlined that nominated sites would be assessed against their capacity to be protected against flood risk, tsunami and storm surge. This includes consideration of the potential effects of climate change, throughout the lifetime of the station including allowing for the safe and secure storage of all the spent fuel and intermediate level waste produced from operation and decommissioning until it can be sent for final disposal in a geological disposal facility (GDF). Nominators have provided information about the ground level of nominated sites, and this is available at:
	www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk

Renewable Energy

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of  (a) energy and  (b) electricity in (i) the UK and (ii) each region came from renewable sources in each year since 1997.

David Kidney: Information on the electricity generated from renewable sources as a percentage of all electricity generated in the UK and the proportion of primary energy demand accounted for by non-waste renewable sources in each year since 1997 is shown in table 1. Also shown are the data from 2004 onwards which monitor progress against the EU Renewable Energy Directive; the directive uses different definitions to the data available from 1997.
	Data on electricity generation are not available at a regional level, since information at this level is disclosive. However information is available that shows the proportion of electricity generated in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which came from all renewable sources for 2004 to 2007; this is shown in table 2. Data on all energy generation by region or country is not available.
	
		
			  Table 1: Percentage of electricity and energy in the UK obtained from renewable sources 
			  Percentage 
			   Electricity generated from renewable sources as a percentage of all electricity generated in the UK  Energy from non-waste renewable sources as a percentage of UK primary energy demand  Renewables consumption as a percentage of capped gross final energy consumption, used to monitor the Renewable Energy Directive 
			 1997 2.0 0.8  
			 1998 2.4 0.8  
			 1999 2.6 0.9  
			 2000 2.6 0.9  
			 2001 2.5 0.9  
			 2002 2.9 1.1  
			 2003 2.7 1.2  
			 2004 3.6 1.4 1.2 
			 2005 4.3 1.7 1.4 
			 2006 4.6 1.8 1.6 
			 2007 4.9 2.0 1.8 
			 2008 5.5 2.4 2.25 
			  Source Data up to and including 2007 from the 2008 edition of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics; data for 2008 from the June 2009 edition of Energy Trends. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Percentage of electricity generated in each country obtained from renewable sources 
			  Percentage 
			   England  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland 
			 2004 2.4 2.9 11.7 2.1 
			 2005 3.0 3.5 13.2 2.8 
			 2006 3.1 4.0 13.3 3.4 
			 2007 3.1 4.4 17.1 4.5 
			  Source: December 2008 edition of Energy Trends.

Renewable Energy: Ministerial Responsibilities

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the hon. Member for Nottingham South was appointed to the post of special adviser on renewable energy and feed-in tariffs; how many meetings  (a) he and  (b) his Department's officials have had with the special adviser since his appointment; and what advice the adviser has provided since appointment.

David Kidney: holding answer 20 July 2009
	 DECC Ministers have frequent meetings with parliamentary colleagues. My hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson) has not held meetings with officials. My hon. Friend is not employed as a special adviser but has had discussions with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) on the subject of feed-in tariffs since the passage of the Energy Act.

River Severn: Tidal Power

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to publish the Government's response to the public consultation on the scope of the Severn Tidal Power feasibility study.

David Kidney: The Government response to the public consultation on Severn tidal power was published on 15 July alongside the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and the Renewable Energy Strategy. The Government response confirms high level analysis of the impact of three barrages and two lagoons and work to bring forward three further schemes using embryonic technologiestwo tidal fences and a low head barrage.

Strategic Siting Assessment Programme

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of the Strategic Siting Assessment Programme; and what proportion of that cost has been recovered from applicant companies.

David Kidney: The Government set out in the 2008 Nuclear White Paper that it would conduct a Strategic Siting Assessment (SSA) to identify sites which are potentially suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power stations by the end of 2025. The sites identified through this process will be listed in the proposed National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power.
	The Government consulted on the criteria and process for the SSA in 2008, and set out the process in their Government Response to consultation at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file49865.pdf
	This process does not include charging nominators for the cost of assessing sites.
	Any new nuclear power stations would be proposed, developed, constructed and operated by energy companies. It is Government's role to set the right policy framework to attract investment in energy projects. In the past Government have undertaken strategic siting assessments for offshore renewables and for the licensing of oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. As with those projects, the cost of the SSA will be met by Government as part of their role to set the policy framework for energy investments.
	The approximate costs from inception to date are shown in the following table. These are costs of consultancy organisations who have contributed towards delivering the SSA. This does not include DECC staff costs.
	
		
			  Activity  Cost () 
			 Development of the SSA process and criteria 409,000 
			 Publicity and consultation on the SSA process, criteria and nominations 331,200 
			 Carrying out the strategic siting assessment and associated Appraisal of Sustainability (AoS) incorporating a Strategic Environmental Assessment and a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA). Both the AoS and the HRA are legal requirements on Government in developing the Nuclear National Policy Statement 1,019,000 
			 Total 1,759,200

Architects Registration Board

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many full-time equivalent employees the Architects' Registration Board employs; what its budget for 2009-10 is; and how much it will receive in support from his Department in 2009-10;
	(2)  what remuneration the Chief Executive of the Architects' Registration Board received in the most recent year for which figures are available.

John Healey: The Architects Registration Board currently employs 22 full-time members of staff. The budget for 2009 is 3,438,538. The budget for 2010 is currently being discussed the board. The registrar (effectively the chief executive) receives a salary of 98,705. I have asked the ARB to write to you separately to confirm these details.
	The Architects' Registration Board will receive no funds from my Department in 2009-10. The Architects Registration Board is funded by the registration fees paid annually by architects in the UK which is currently set at 86 per year.

Departmental Board Members

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether each of his Department's non-executive directors has made a declaration of political activity.

Shahid Malik: Non-executive members of the departmental board are required under the terms and conditions of their appointment to declare to the permanent secretary any personal or business interest which may, or may be perceived, to influence their judgment in performing their functions and obligations as members of the board.
	There are currently six non-executive board members, none of whom have declared any political activities under this provision.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what Gershon efficiency savings his Department has made in each of the last three years.

Shahid Malik: The details of the efficiency savings delivered within our SR04 Gershon efficiency programme were published in the Department's 2008 Autumn Performance Report, which reported achievement of 1,444 million efficiency savings against a target of at least 620 million efficiency savings by March 2008.

Departmental Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his Department's budget is for  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11; and what changes have been made to previous plans for the budget as a consequence of (i) funding being diverted from other Departments as a consequence of proposals in the Draft Legislative Programme 2009-10 and (ii) funding being brought forward from later years.

Shahid Malik: The Department's 2009 Annual Report shows Communities and Local Government's overall budget for 2009-10 and 2010-11 as 13.2 billion and 10.8 billion respectively. These figures reflect over 1.5 billion of funding brought forward from 2010-11 as well as new funding announced at Budget 2009.
	Additional funding of up to 930 million for new affordable housing (as announced in 'Building Britain's Future') will come from a mixture of reprioritisation, efficient programme management and anticipated underspends in other Departments.

Departmental Postal Services

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on Royal Mail services in each of the last two years.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government has spent the following using Royal Mail within the last two years:
	
		
			  1 April to 31 March   
			 2008 90,656.69 
			 2009 53,389.25

Departmental Responsibilities

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Minister in his Department is responsible for  (a) Travellers,  (b) Pathfinder Housing Market Renewal and  (c) the QE2 Conference Centre.

Shahid Malik: The ministerial responsibilities are as follows:
	 (a) I am responsible;
	 (b) My right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning (John Healey) supported by my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin);
	 (c) I am responsible.

Eco-Towns

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what guidance has been published by his Department on waste policy in eco-towns;
	(2)  what guidance has been published by his Department on transport policy in eco-towns;
	(3)  what guidance has been published on the planning process for eco-town travel plans.

John Healey: As set out in my written statement on 16 July 2008,  Official Report, column 42WS, my Department published 'Planning Policy Statement: Eco-towns' (PPS), which sets out the standards that eco-towns will have to meet, including standards for transport and waste. I have placed copies of the PPS in the Library of the House.
	As part of their work with us on eco-towns, the Town and Country Planning Association (TCP A) have produced a series of best practice guidance worksheets to support those taking forward eco-towns. This includes worksheets on waste and transport, and these are available on the TCPA's website
	http://www.tcpa.org.uk/pages/sustainability-worksheets.html
	The transport worksheet supplements the initial guidance produced by the Department for Transport, 'Building Sustainable Transport into New Developments: A Menu of Options for Growth Points and Eco-towns', and looks at travel planning and implementing sustainable transport approaches.

Fires: Domestic Waste

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 3 July 2009,  Official Report, column 454W, on fires: waste, if he will commission research into the scope and frequency of household arson attacks involving wheeled refuse containers.

Shahid Malik: There is currently no centrally held data on the number of wheeled refuse container fires. The recently implemented electronic Incident Recording System (IRS) records all incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services. From the data held on IRS it will be possible to identify deliberate fires as well as the number and location of wheeled refuse container fires attended by Fire and Rescue Services. This data will be available for 2009-10 and so should provide information on the frequency of fires in wheeled refuse containers and their involvement in household arson attacks.
	The Government fund research on fire and resilience matters through several routes, one of which is the annual Fire and Resilience Research and Statistics Programme. Potential research projects for the Programme are discussed and prioritised based on the Department's policy needs and also in close consultation with Fire and Rescue Service stakeholders, such as the Chief Fire Officers Association. The Programme for 2009-10 has been finalised. A potential research project on the scope of fires in wheeled refuse containers will be included in this process for 2010-11 and we will ensure engagement with the Arson Control Forum as key stakeholders.

Fires: Domestic Waste

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 3 July 2009,  Official Report, column 454W, on fires: waste, what guidance  (a) his Department and  (b) the Fire Service College has issued to firefighters and fire services on tackling fires deliberately set in wheeled refuse containers.

Shahid Malik: Neither my Department nor the Fire Service College has issued guidance to firefighters and the fire and rescue service in relation to tackling fires which have been deliberately set in wheeled refuse containers. Individual Fire and Rescue Authorities may, however, have developed operational procedures or policy on the issue.

Green Belt

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in what locations the regional spatial strategies submitted to his Department propose a review of green belt protection with a view to reducing the present level of protection.

John Healey: The level of protection afforded to green belt would not be affected by any regional spatial strategythis is set out in National Planning Policy. Policies in regional spatial strategies may recommend that, in a particular area, there should be a review of which areas should be designated as green belt.

Green Belt: Cambridgeshire

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to protect  (a) green belts and  (b) green open spaces in (i) Huntingdonshire and (ii) Cambridgeshire.

John Healey: National and regional planning policy (Planning Policy Guidance Note 2 and the East of England Plan) both contain policy to protect Green Belt land and there remains a strong presumption against development.
	The East of England Plan, published in May 2008 confirmed that the broad extent of green belts in the East of England, including around Cambridge, is appropriate and
	should be maintained.
	Government Planning Policy (Policy Guidance Note 17) sets out the Government's approach to the provision of open space. The East of England Plan (Policy ENV1) also includes policy on creation and maintenance and creation of networks of green infrastructure. The Local Development Plans of Cambridge City Council and Huntingdonshire district council will then make provision for open green space, including the setting of open space standards.

Homelessness

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of people are of no fixed abode in each region in England.

John Healey: Information about the total number of people in England with no fixed abode is not held centrally.

Homes and Communities Agency: Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many  (a) board members and  (b) employees of (i) the Homes and Communities Agency and (ii) the Tenant Services Authority received a bonus in the last 12 months; and what the average bonus payment was;
	(2)  how many  (a) board members and  (b) employees of the (i) Homes and Communities Agency and (ii) Tenant Services Authority are paid more than (A) 50,000, (B) 75,000 and (C) 100,000 per annum;
	(3)  how much the  (a) Homes and Communities Agency and  (b) Tenant Services Authority has paid in staff bonuses in the last 12 months.

John Healey: Information on pay and bonuses for the Homes and Communities Agency and the Tenant Service Authority will be included in their annual report and accounts. Additional details will be published by both the HCA and TSA later this year.

Housing Market

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many residential properties were sold in England in 2008-09; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of such properties expected to be sold in 2009-10.

John Healey: Data published by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs reports the number of residential property transaction completions with a value of 40,000 or above in England in 2008-09 as 664,000. We have not made any estimates for transactions in England for 2009-10.

Housing: Construction

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new homes were built in  (a) Hemel Hempstead,  (b) Dacorum and  (c) Hertfordshire in each of the last eight quarters.

John Healey: Information on house building completions is not available below the spatial level of local authority.
	The following table shows the number of new homes built in each local authority in Hertfordshire county in each of the last eight quarters.
	
		
			   2007  2008  2009 
			  Local authority  April to June  July to September  October to December  January to March  April to June  July to September  October to December  January to March 
			  Hert fordshire 
			 Broxbourne 36 33 71 94 44 46 35 53 
			 Dacorum 83 85 113 35 97 148 83 28 
			 East Hertfordshire 99  46 76 36 97 51 84 
			 Hertsmere 42 69 167 38 96 36 55 9 
			 North Hertfordshire 157 34 131 25 5 7 35 20 
			 St. Albans 
			 Stevenage 62 63 231 16 11 90 80 42 
			 Three Rivers 106 41 45 35 38 79 104 59 
			 Watford 5 3 96 94 174 117 92 27 
			 Welwyn Hatfield 185 198 126 178 76 23 34 15 
			  Source: New build completions from P2 quarterly returns submitted by local authorities and the National House-Building Council to CLG. 
		
	
	Data on numbers of new build housing starts and completions by district are published routinely on the CLG website. The latest data can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/140921.xls

Housing: Construction

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses in each of the millennium villages have been built; and in what locations.

John Healey: Since the Programme began in 1997, the number of houses in each millennium village and the locations in which they have been built are:
	
		
			  Millennium community  Location  Completed homes 
			 Greenwich Millennium Village Greenwich, London 1,099 
			 New Islington Manchester 179 
			 Allerton Bywater Leeds 172 
			 Kings Lynn Kings Lynn, Norfolk 109 
			 Telford Telford 53 
			 Hastings Hastings 0 
			 Oakgrove Milton Keynes 18 
			 Total  1,630

Housing: Expenditure

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 203W, on housing: expenditure, how much his Department plans to spend on capital expenditure on housing in each of the next two years.

John Healey: holding answer 22 June 2009
	Capital expenditure in this instance is taken to cover grants to the private sector, contributions to registered social landlords, and expenditure on council-owned housing stock.
	The total planned investment for next year (2010-11) is 4,492 million. This includes additional funding of 510 million to be invested in new affordable housing as announced in 'Building Britain's Future'. This will be made available from anticipated underspends in other departments. However this figure excludes the major repairs allowance (MRA) element of housing revenue account subsidy, because the figure will not be known until 2010. For information, MRA for the current financial year is  1,277 million.
	Budgets for 2011-12 will be subject to the next spending review.

Housing: Low Incomes

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses provided under the National Affordable Housing Programme 2008-11 under projects with starts in London after March 2009  (a) there will be in each borough,  (b) will be new build,  (c) will be converted from privately-developed units and (d) will have (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four or more bedrooms.

John Healey: The number of new build homes forecast to start on site through the National Affordable Housing Programme since March 2009 are set out in the table. These figures show the current position and more starts on site will be added as the Homes and Communities Agency allocates more funding to successful bids for grant.
	
		
			  National Affordable Housing Programmeforecast starts on site 
			   Number of bedrooms 
			   1  2  3  4  Total 
			 Barking and Dagenham 115 85 25 13 238 
			 Barnet 77 146 104 11 338 
			 Bexley 67 144 56 14 281 
			 Brent 196 223 98 36 553 
			 Bromley 74 79 34 8 195 
			 Camden 43 47 34 1 125 
			 Croydon 78 211 86 46 421 
			 Ealing 107 94 44 3 248 
			 Enfield 176 186 56 9 427 
			 Greenwich 315 490 223 110 1,138 
			 Hackney 201 261 164 87 713 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 20 70 73 8 171 
			 Haringey 62 125 35 23 245 
			 Harrow 102 130 69 67 368 
			 Havering 126 173 122 31 452 
			 Hillingdon 46 118 55 27 246 
			 Hounslow 15 32 15 6 68 
			 Islington 226 230 57 11 524 
			 Kingston upon Thames 6 8 5 9 28 
			 Lambeth 97 123 48 10 278 
			 Lewisham 370 433 100 33 936 
			 Merton 81 142 37 54 314 
			 Newham 359 942 354 164 1,819 
			 Redbridge 96 77 47 11 231 
			 Richmond upon Thames 4 26 18 0 48 
			 Southwark 271 380 205 27 883 
			 Sutton 33 124 104 16 277 
			 Tower Hamlets 707 788 352 118 1,965 
			 Waltham Forest 89 169 76 30 364 
			 Wandsworth 52 42 8 0 102 
			 Westminster 69 108 72 5 254 
			 Grand total 4,280 6,206 2,776 988 14,250 
			 Source: Homes and Communities Agency 
		
	
	Conversions from completed privately developed units are not classified as starts on site by the Homes and Communities Agency.

LLM Communications

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 22 June 2009,  Official Report, column 651W, on LLM Communications, whether LLM Communications received payment for their services  (a) directly from his Department,  (b) from the Campaign for More and Better Homes or  (c) by another method;
	(2)  if he will publish the remit and terms of reference given LLM Communications by the Campaign for More and Better Homes;
	(3)  how much funding his Department has allocated to the Campaign for More and Better Homes to date; for what purpose such funding was allocated; and which Minister approved the allocation;
	(4)  what role the special adviser to the Minister for Housing and Planning played in the regional campaigns by LLM Communications;
	(5)  which local authorities were targeted as part of the LLM Communications campaign on the benefits of housing growth.

John Healey: In 2006, the Campaign for More and Better Homes (CMBH), an independent, pre-existing cross-sector Housing Alliance, sought funding for a series of regional housing debates to help raise public awareness of the need for, and benefits of housing growth. The Department agreed and granted them 25000, CMBH commissioned LLM Communications as their PR agency to deliver these debates in 2006-07. The Department paid LLM Communications directly.
	The current special adviser to the Minister for Housing and Planning was not involved and had no role in the regional housing debates delivered by CMBH.

National Housing and Planning Advice Unit

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent employees the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit employs; what its budget for 2009-10 is; and how much it will receive in support from his Department in 2009-10.

John Healey: The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit currently employs 12.8 full-time equivalent staff. It also has six board members who are paid for up to a maximum of 30 days per year each.
	Its budget for 2009-10 is 1,433,710, which is entirely funded by Communities and Local Government.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will revise the 15,000 upper limit for empty property rate relief to take account of the number of businesses eligible to claim the relief at its present level.

Rosie Winterton: The current upper limit of 15,000 for empty property rate relief is a temporary limit announced in the pre-Budget Report 2008. At the end of the financial year 2009-10 the threshold at which empty property rates become due will automatically revert to 2,200 under the current legislation.
	All tax matters are subject to the pre-Budget Report and Budget process and, as with all taxes, the Government continue to keep business rates under review.

Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the number of businesses in England and Wales with a rateable value of over 15,000 in respect of which empty property rate relief has been awarded.

Rosie Winterton: Details of the number of hereditaments in England with a rateable value of over 15,000 in respect of which empty property rate relief has been awarded as at 31 March 2009, are currently being collected.

Planning Permission

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate was made of the cost of preparation of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) to those submitting planning applications  (a) before and  (b) after introduction of the requirement to produce EIAs.

John Healey: The most recent estimates of the cost in carrying out an environmental impact assessment were set out in the explanatory memorandum to the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008 (SI No. 2093). This shows an average cost of 30-50,000 per assessment, equivalent to 0.3-0.5 per cent. of the total project costs.
	We do not hold information on costs before Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations first came into force on the 15 July 1988.

Social Rented Housing: Waiting Lists

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likely effects of giving priority to local people on housing waiting lists on the eligibility for social housing of  (a) New Age Travellers,  (b) Irish Travellers and  (c) Gypsies with no local connection to the area in which they are applying for accommodation;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the likely effects of giving priority to local people on housing waiting lists on the eligibility for social housing of  (a) migrant workers from member states of the EU prior to 2004 and  (b) those with refugee status;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the likely effects of giving priority to local people on housing waiting lists on the eligibility for social housing of non-EEA nationals with  (a) indefinite leave to remain and  (b) limited leave to remain;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the likely effects of giving priority to local people on housing waiting lists on the eligibility for social housing of  (a) A8 nationals on the Worker Registration Scheme and  (b) A2 nationals on the Worker Authorisation Scheme.

John Healey: The proposals announced in Building Britain's Future relate to the allocation of social housing. We have no plans to change rules on eligibility to apply for social housing.

Supporting People Programme

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each client group received a Supporting People grant in each of the last three years.

John Healey: The Supporting People programme is administered at the local level by the relevant administering authority. It is for each authority to decide which services to fund; this is informed by locally identified needs and agreed priorities within their Supporting People strategies. People who are eligible for Supporting People funding tend to use a service, rather than receive a cashable grant.
	Data are collected on the amount of housing related support services available to different client groups (measured in household units). The following tables provide a snapshot of the services available at a particular point in time during each of the last three years, but does not reflect the total number of households who have accessed services during each year. Household unit information is reported to the Department on a quarterly basis, by administering authorities.
	
		
			  Figures for 2006 to 2009 
			   Frail elderly  Generic  Homeless families with support needs  Mentally disordered offenders  Offenders or people at risk of offending  Older people with mental health problems/dementia 
			 2006-07 Q4 32,983 32,435 12,651 277 6,852 998 
			 2007-08 Q4 33,092 36,582 13,101 236 7,747 1,272 
			 2008-09 Q3 35,834 38,263 14,270 236 8,326 1,227 
		
	
	
		
			   Older people with support needs  People with a physical or sensory disability  People with alcohol problems  People with drug problems  People with HIV aids  People with learning disabilities 
			 2006-07 Q4 808,966 12,880 3,068 4,589 654 33,100 
			 2007-08 Q4 808,487 11,876 3,486 4,895 731 31,238 
			 2008-09 Q3 792,168 12,098 3,233 5,435 870 30,910 
		
	
	
		
			   People with mental health problems  Refugees  Rough sleeper  Single homeless with support needs  Teenage parents  Traveller 
			
			 2006-07 Q4 36,396 3,113 2,339 40,989 3,687 1,040 
			 2007-08 Q4 37,280 2,621 2,289 39,038 3,825 1,184 
			 2008-09 Q3(1) 36,495 2,754 2,693 39,952 3,851 1,362 
		
	
	
		
			   Women at risk of domestic violence  Young people at risk  Young people leaving care  Total 
			 2006-07 Q4 8,660 16,596 1,905 1,064,178 
			 2007-08 Q4 9,520 18,610 1,884 1,068,994 
			 2008-09 Q3(1) 10,120 20,454 1,855 1,058,335 
			 (1) Data for Q4 of 2008/09, although collected, is not yet available. The Q3 2008/09 total includes an adjustment of-4,071 relating to some minor reporting inaccuracies from a small number of authorities.  Note: The information in the tables shows the snapshot of household units available at the end of each of the last three years, where available. Data are collected on a quarterly basis and figures can be subject to fluctuations during the year.

Supporting People Programme

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of the expenditure on Supporting People grants was allocated to each eligible client group in each of the last three years.

John Healey: The Supporting People programme is administered at the local level by the relevant administering authority. It is for each authority to decide which services to fund; this is informed by locally identified need and agreed priorities within their Supporting People Strategies. The following tables set out the amount spent on Supporting People services in England, by primary client group. Retrospective spend information is reported to the Department annually by administering authorities, and is provided for the last three years where complete data is available.
	
		
			  Spend Figures for 2005-08 
			   Frail Elderly  Generic  Homeless Families with Support Needs  Mentally Disordered Offenders  Offenders or People at risk of Offending  Older people with mental health problems/dementia  Older people with support needs 
			 2007-08 27,884,711 80,801,718 46,939,918 2,425,022 49,523,89 4,608,510 275,236,136 
			 Percentage 1.71 4.96 2.88 0.15 3.04 0.28 16.91 
			 2006-07 31,363,644 67,279,119 48,722,386 3,416,097 47,987,270 4,716,665 278,678,273 
			 Percentage 1.91 4.09 2.97 0.21 2.92 0.29 16.96 
			 2005-06 25,708,122 70,073,703 49,472,818 3,438,407 45,795,151 5,308,883 284,148,844 
			 Percentage 1.53 4.17 2.94 0.20 2.72 0.32 16.90 
		
	
	
		
			   People with a Physical or Sensory Disability  People with Alcohol Problems  People with Drug Problems  People with HIV/ AIDS  People with Learning Disabilities  People with Mental Health Problems  Refugees 
			 2007-08 26,656,768 19,436,407 28,287,662 2,288,749 346,626,291 238,698,079 11,105,864 
			 Percentage 1.64 1.19 1.74 0.14 21.30 14.67 0.68 
			 2006-07 29,226,608 18,462,181 24,043,845 2,419,625 367,435,288 239,560,853 14,190,401 
			 Percentage 1.78 1.12 1.46 0.15 22.36 14.58 0.86 
			 2005-06 30,888,012 19,747,486 23,842,280 2,742,667 388,760,777 246,074,554 16,032,747 
			 Percentage 1.84 1.17 1.42 0.16 23.12 14.63 0.95 
		
	
	
		
			   Rough Sleeper  Single Homeless with Support Needs  Teenage Parents  Traveller  Women at Risk of Domestic Violence  Young People at Risk  Young People Leaving Care  Total 
			 2007-08 18,776,088 222,162,774 23,403,241 1,606,075 64,523,484 124,728,170 11,853,858 1,627,573,423 
			 Percentage 1.15 13.65 1.44 0.10 3.96 7.66 0.73  
			 2006-07 17,485,753 233,623,677 22,990,005 1,411,993 61,645,319 115,955,181 12,317,463 1,642,961,644 
			 Percentage 1.06 14.22 1.40 0.09 3.75 7.06 0.75  
			 2005-06 16,259,386 251,770,808 21,522,476 1,402,909 59,333,258 104,778,449 14,505,536 1,681,607,275 
			 Percentage 0.97 14.97 1.28 0.08 3.53 6.23 0.86  
		
	
	2008-09 spend data, although collected, is not yet available.

Travelling People: Caravan Sites

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, column 756W, on Travelling people: caravan sites, if he will publish the figures provided for each  (a) Government Office region and  (b) local authority area.

Shahid Malik: Information on the number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans, provided by Government Office region and by local authority area, has already been published in the bi-annual publication of the Count of Gypsy and Traveller Caravans. Information from these publications, covering the Counts between 19 January 2000 and 19 July 2006, has been made available to the Library of the House.
	Additionally, data from the last five Counts which was published on 12 May 2009, includes data on the Counts since 18 January 2007. This Count is available on the website of Communities and Local Government at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/1228795.xls

Tree Preservation Orders: Thundersley Common

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many tree protection orders have been granted for trees on Thundersley Common in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold this information, as responsibility for making and administering Tree Preservation Orders rests with the relevant local authority; which in this case Castle Point borough council.

Adult Education: Finance

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1065W, on adult education, how much was spent on evaluating the Impact of Skills for Life Learning initiative under each budgetary heading.

Kevin Brennan: The Department and its predecessor has spent, in total to date, 1,853,097 on the evaluation of the Impact of Skills for Life Learning initiative.
	This evaluation has been split over two contracts. The following table shows the total payments by operation year made to each contractor.
	
		
			  Breakdown of total payments by operational year to contractors for research into the Impact of Skills for Life Learning 
			  Contractor  Contract   Amount paid () 
			 BMRB International Ltd. 1 2002/03 904,728 
			   2003/04 306,745 
			   2004/05 288,624 
			   2005/06 55,000 
			 Sub total   1,555,097 
			 
			 National Institute of Economic and Social Research 2 2006/07 258,000 
			   2007/08 40,000 
			 Sub total   298,000 
			 Grand total   1,853,097

Adult Education: Suffolk

Richard Spring: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many adults have  (a) enrolled in adult and community learning programmes and  (b) participated in further education in Suffolk in each year since 1997.

Kevin Brennan: The table shows the number of LSC funded adult learners participating in adult and community learning (ACL) and participating in further education provision in Suffolk, from 2002/03 to 2007/08. Information prior to 2002/03 is not available on a consistent basis. ACL providers were not required to return data to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) prior to 2003/04therefore ACL data for 2002/03are not available.
	
		
			  Adult participation in ACL and FE provision in Suffolk local authority, 2002/03 to 2007/08 
			   Adult and community learning  Further education provision 
			 2002/03 n/a 31,500 
			 2003/04 15,200 32,500 
			 2004/05 14,000 29,500 
			 2005/06 12,900 24,000 
			 2006/07 8,500 16,800 
			 2007/08 9,000 17,100 
			  Notes: 1. Area is based on home postcode of learner. 2. Figures for local authority have been rounded to the nearest hundred.  3. FE provision includes general further education colleges including tertiary, sixth form colleges, special collegeagricultural and horticultural colleges and art and Design colleges, specialist colleges and external institutions.  Source: ACL and FE ILR 
		
	
	Over the past few years we have focussed public funding away from a high number of short, and poor quality courses towards longer and more valuable courses providing adults with the skills for employment and further progression in learning. This resulted in the reduction in the overall number of LSC funded adult learners between 2004/05 and 2006/07, but has led to significant increases in Skills for Life literacy and numeracy and full level 2 qualification achievements.

Adult Learning Grant

David Laws: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in each age group received an adult learning grant in the latest year for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for England administer the adult learning grant (ALG) nationally on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The ALG is specifically aimed at economically active adults who do not have at least a level 2 qualification but are working. Cost can often be a barrier to learning for those on low incomes and ALG is designed to help meet those additional costs.
	To date in 2008/09 29,794 individuals have received an ALG payment. This can be broken down into the following age ranges:
	
		
			  Age range  ALGs awarded and paid 
			 19-25 25,417 
			 26-30 1,550 
			 31+ 2,827 
			 Total 29,794

Advantage West Midlands: Finance

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department allocated to Advantage West Midlands in each of the last five years; and what funding his Department will provide to Advantage West Midlands in each future year for which provision has been made.

Rosie Winterton: The budget allocations made to Advantage West Midlands (AWM) in the last five years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Budget allocations ( million) 
			 2008-09 296 
			 2007-08 297 
			 2006-07 290 
			 2005-06 289 
			 2004-05 237 
		
	
	AWM's budget allocation for 2009-10 is 295 million, and they have indicative allocations for 2010-11 of 212 million.

Apprentices

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to increase the number of apprenticeships.

Kevin Brennan: We are taking a wide range of steps to encourage more people to take up apprenticeships and to encourage more employers to offer high quality places. Government are already committed to increasing spending on apprentices in 2009-10 to over 1 billion. At a time of economic downturn it is vital that we continue to invest in people and their skills. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister announced a 140 million package for 35,000 additional apprenticeship places, of which at least 21,000 will be in the public sector.
	In May we announced an 11 million investment to provide 3,000 additional apprenticeship places for young people. This new approach will see large employers expanding existing apprenticeship programmes and allow small businesses to benefit from the expertise of companies which have been training apprentices for some time. We also announced a 7 million fund for up to 10 new apprenticeship training agencies this year, with the potential to deliver up to 15,000 apprenticeship places per year by 2014-15. The funding will also be available to help develop and expand new or existing group training associations, which can help attract new and hard to reach employers and new individuals to become apprentices.
	We have now established the new national apprenticeship service to provide a single point of contact for employers and apprentices. A key part of this service is the new online system for apprenticeship vacancy matching, which is already proving successful in bringing together employers and prospective apprentices.
	We are also putting in place procedures to use the public procurement process to encourage companies, including SMEs, with access to Government-funded contracts to offer apprenticeships. DIUS and the Office of Government Commerce jointly published new guidance in April this year (promoting skills through public procurement) on how to embed skills and training in procurements.
	We want apprenticeships to be a mainstream option for young people and are taking forward a range of measures, as part of our 16-18 apprenticeships action plan, to increase the number of apprenticeships available for 16-18 year-olds. The Children, Skills and Learning Bill, includes provisions to ensure that an apprenticeship place is available for all suitably qualified young people by 2013.

Apprentices

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much he expects his Department to spend on level four apprenticeships in each of the next five years.

Kevin Brennan: The budget for apprenticeships is not separated according to the level of the framework undertaken. The total budget available for apprenticeships for 2009-10 is 1,098 million.
	The budget for 2010-11 has not yet been agreed but will be published towards the end of this calendar year, and budgets for the following years will be agreed in line with our commitment to ensure that an apprenticeship place is available for all qualified young people by 2013. Over time, as we encourage the development of more level four apprenticeship frameworks, we would expect that more people will progress from level three apprenticeships to develop these higher level skills.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people aged between 16 and 24 years started an apprenticeship in each region in the period  (a) September 2007 to July 2008 and  (b) September 2008 to July 2009.

Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts for 16 to 24-year-olds, by region. Data is shown for the 2007/08 academic year (1 August to 31 July), and the first nine months of the 2008/09 year (1 August to 30 April). Apprenticeship starts for the whole of the 2008/09 academic year are due to be published later in 2009 in a statistical first release (SFR)the next post-16 education and skills SFR is due to be published in October 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Apprenticeship starts, 16 to 24-year-olds 
			  Government office region  2007/08 (1 August to 31 July)  2008/09 (1 August to 30 April), part-year, provisional 
			 East Midlands 19,300 14,200 
			 East of England 18,800 13,100 
			 London 12,100 9,700 
			 North East 13,700 10,300 
			 North West 32,800 23,700 
			 South East 28,100 21,700 
			 South West 22,400 17,800 
			 West Midlands 21,600 16,900 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 25,800 20,300 
			 Other 2,900 2,300 
			 Grand total 197,600 149,900 
			  Notes: 1. Data has been rounded to the nearest hundred, and may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. Region is based on learner's home postcode. 3. 'Other' includes unknown postcodes, and those outside of England. 4. The data shown includes a small number of learners below 16 years of age. 5. Age is calculated based on age at start of the programme.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people went on to higher education after completing an apprenticeship in each year since 1997.

Kevin Brennan: Information on the destinations of apprenticeships is not routinely collected in administrative data.
	However, there are other sources of information which give an indication of the progression of apprenticeship completers to higher education. One such source is a report published by HEFCE in May 2009, Pathways to Higher Education:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2009/09_17/.
	The report states that 5 per cent. of those who completed an apprenticeship in 2002/03 had progressed to some form of higher education by 2006/07 (or by 2005/06 for those progressing to work-based HE).
	A greater proportion of apprentices who completed an advanced (level 3) programme progressed to HE: 6 per cent. compared to 4 per cent. of those who completed a level 2 apprenticeship.
	The analysis excluded a minority of apprenticeship completers, which are discussed in the report.
	We do want to see much greater progression from Apprenticeships into Higher Education. That is why in World Class Apprenticeships the Government set out their commitment to Apprenticeships being a route to higher education where desired, and we have recently consulted on our proposal that all Advanced Apprenticeships should be accredited with UCAS tariff points.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people aged  (a) between 16 and 24 years and  (b) 25 years and over stopped claiming jobseeker's allowance in order to start an apprenticeship in each year since 1997.

Kevin Brennan: My Department, the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus do not currently hold data on the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants leaving the benefit to start an apprenticeship.
	At present, DWP do not hold information regarding specific training destinations of jobseeker's allowance leavers. The Integrated Employment and Skills Programme Unit are currently working to link data sets held by DWP and BIS which will allow us to identify the specific training destinations of jobseeker's allowance claimants in the future.
	The Integrated Employment and Skills Service is being developed jointly by DWP and BIS to implement the Government's response to the Leitch Review. The new integrated system will allow everyone to easily access information, advice and guidance to help them progress in their careers and be flexible and responsive to the different demands of individuals and employers.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people aged between 16 and 24 years started an apprenticeship in  (a) construction,  (b) manufacturing,  (c) health and beauty,  (d) engineering, electrician and building services and  (e) other sectors in the period (i) September 2007 to July 2008 and (ii) September 2008 to July 2009.

Kevin Brennan: Tables 1 and 2 show the number of apprenticeship starts for 16 to 24-year-olds by all frameworks for the 2007/08 academic year (1 August to 31 July), and the first nine months of the 2008/09 year (1 August to 30 April), respectively. Apprenticeship starts for the whole of the 2008/09 academic year are due to be published later in 2009 in a statistical first release (SFR)the next post-16 education and skills SFR is due to be published in October 2009.
	Copies of these tables have been provided and the relevant data will be placed in the Library.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 182W, on apprentices, whether all existing learners who have started their training since 1 April 2009 on  (a) apprenticeship programmes and  (b) Train to Gain courses funded by the Learning and Skills Council will be funded to complete their existing training at the agreed rates.

Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) are responsible for agreeing with each provider the scope for continued recruitment for 2008/09 academic year on apprenticeship programmes and Train to Gain courses.
	Where learners start within the 2008/09 academic year the funding rates will continue at the same level for the remainder of the academic year.
	For the 2009/10 academic year, funding rates in respect of apprenticeship programmes (for those aged 19 or over) and Train to Gain courses will increase by 1.5 per cent. compared with 2008/09 academic year. The exception to this is the funding rate for learners aged 25 or over starting an apprenticeship programme in 2009/10 academic year. For these learners the funding rate will be 90 per cent. of the uplifted rate.

Apprentices: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships were  (a) started and  (b) completed in each London local authority area in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2007-08.

Kevin Brennan: Tables 1 and 2 show the number of apprenticeship starts and completions in each London local authority from 2003/04, the earliest year for which we have comparable data.
	
		
			  Table 1: Apprenticeship starts 
			  Region  Local authority  2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08 
			 Inner London Camden 100 200 100 200 200 
			  City of London  
			  Hackney 300 300 200 200 300 
			  Hammersmith and Fulham 200 200 200 200 200 
			  Haringey 200 200 200 200 300 
			  Islington 200 300 200 200 200 
			  Kensington and Chelsea 100 100 100 100 100 
			  Lambeth 400 400 300 300 400 
			  Lewisham 400 400 400 400 500 
			  Newham 500 500 400 300 600 
			  Southwark 300 400 300 300 400 
			  Tower Hamlets 500 500 400 300 500 
			  Wandsworth 300 300 300 200 300 
			  Westminster 200 200 300 200 300 
			  Total 3,700 4,000 3,400 3,200 4,200 
			
			
			 Outer London Barking and Dagenham 400 400 400 300 500 
			  Barnet 400 400 300 300 400 
			  Bexley 600 700 600 700 800 
			  Brent 300 400 300 300 400 
			  Bromley 600 600 500 600 800 
			  Croydon 700 700 700 600 900 
			  Ealing 400 400 300 400 500 
			  Enfield 500 500 400 400 500 
			  Greenwich 400 500 500 400 500 
			  Harrow 300 300 300 300 300 
			  Havering 600 600 600 600 800 
			  Hillingdon 600 600 500 600 800 
			  Hounslow 400 400 400 500 600 
			  Kingston upon Thames 300 200 200 200 300 
			  Merton 300 300 300 300 300 
			  Redbridge 300 400 300 300 500 
			  Richmond upon Thames 200 200 200 200 200 
			  Sutton 500 500 500 400 600 
			  Waltham Forest 400 500 400 400 500 
			  Total 8,200 8,300 7,600 7,900 10,300 
			 Inner and outer London Total 11,900 12,400 11,000 11,100 14,500 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Apprenticeship completions 
			  Region  Local authority  2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08 
			 Inner London Camden   100 100 100 
			  City of London  
			  Hackney  100 100 100 100 
			  Hammersmith and Fulham  100 100 100 100 
			  Haringey   100 100 100 
			  Islington   100 100 100 
			  Kensington and Chelsea100 100 
			  Lambeth  100 100 100 100 
			  Lewisham 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Newham 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Southwark  100 100 200 200 
			  Tower Hamlets 100 100 200 100 200 
			  Wandsworth  100 100 100 100 
			  Westminster 100 100 100 200 100 
			  Total 500 800 1,500 1,700 1,700 
			
			 Outer London Barking and Dagenham 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Barnet 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Bexley 100 200 300 400 400 
			  Brent  100 100 100 100 
			  Bromley 100 200 300 300 300 
			  Croydon 100 200 300 400 300 
			  Ealing 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Enfield 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Greenwich 100 100 200 300 300 
			  Harrow 100 100 100 100 200 
			  Havering 100 200 300 400 400 
			  Hillingdon 100 200 300 400 400 
			  Hounslow 100 100 200 300 200 
			  Kingston upon Thames 100 100 100 100 100 
			  Merton 100 100 200 100 200 
			  Redbridge 100 100 200 200 200 
			  Richmond upon Thames 100 100 100 100 100 
			  Sutton 100 200 200 300 200 
			  Waltham Forest 100 100 200 300 200 
			  Total 1,500 2,400 3,800 4,600 4,500 
			 Inner and outer London Total 2,100 3,200 5,300 6,200 6,200 
			  Notes: 1. Area is based on home postcode of learner. 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and may not sum to total due to rounding. 3. '' Represents a figure of less than 50.  Source: WBL 1LR 
		
	
	The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeshipup from 37 per cent. in 2004/05.

Apprentices: Public Sector

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many public sector apprenticeships have been started in  (a) Sunderland and  (b) England since 2005.

Kevin Brennan: We do not hold centrally data on the number of apprentices employed within the public sector. The Government are committed to developing and expanding apprenticeships in the public sector and earlier this year Cabinet colleagues announced plans for the expansion of the Apprenticeships scheme across the public sector. We announced a 140 million package to deliver 35,000 extra places this year, of which, 21,000 would be in the public sector.
	From 1 August 2009, a key employer field in individual learner records (ILR) will be compulsory for the first time. This will allow us to estimate the number of public sector apprentices more accurately.

Apprentices: Redundancy

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what information his Department holds on the number of apprenticeships interrupted by redundancy in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: We do not currently hold data centrally about the total number of apprentices made redundant. Working with Construction Skills and the National Apprenticeship Service we have established a matching service to help apprentices in the construction sector at risk of redundancy to find alternative employment and to complete their apprenticeship. We do have some information on redundancies in the Construction Sector where 665 redundant apprentices have been subsequently re-employed. We are continuing to help 775 redundant apprentices in the construction sector.

Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what evidence was provided to the Better Regulation Executive by his Department in relation to the statement that, Costs to existing recognised Awarding Bodies are expected to be neutral, on average, in the Impact Assessment of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill relating to the creation of the awarding body regulator, Ofqual and the QCDA.

Ian Lucas: The impact assessment which accompanied the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill was prepared and published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The forecast benefits, set-up and steady state costs associated with this regulation are set out in that impact assessment. These are based are a range of cost and break-even scenarios.

Broadband

Don Foster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of jobs to be created through  (a) the roll-out of universal broadband access to 2012 and  (b) the roll-out of next generation broadband services.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has not made any estimates of the number of jobs to be created through  (a) the roll-out of universal broadband access to 2012 and  (b) the roll-out of next generation. However, a recent report by the Information, Technology and Innovation Foundation suggested that a nominal 5 billion investment in broadband networks infrastructure would generate 280,000 jobs.

Broadband: Finance

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department has allocated to facilitate universal provision of high-speed broadband in 2009-10; and from which budget.

Patrick McFadden: The Digital Britain Report set out our plans for a Universal Service Commitment in relation to broadband. This will ensure virtually every household will be able to access a broadband line capably of delivering at least two Mbps. This will be funded, by approximately 200 million, drawn from a combination of the emerging under spend on the Digital Switchover Help Scheme (from the TV licence fee) and the 750 million BIS Strategic Investment Fund announced in the recent Budget to support advanced industrial projects of strategic importance. The finer details of how funding for this will be done year on year to 2012 is yet to be determined.
	The Digital Britain Report also proposed that a Next Generation Fund should be created to encourage investment in high speed broadband in those parts of the UK where commercial investment will not reach. This would come from a small supplement of 50 pence per month on fixed telephone lines, which represents a fair and sensible national investment to ensure that the overwhelming majority of the country can get access to next generation, high speed, broadband.

Broadband: Kent

Michael Fallon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking in conjunction with BT to upgrade the BT broadband service in the Chartwell and Pootings area of West Kent.

Patrick McFadden: I am not in a position to comment on BT's commercial plans. In, the Budget on 22 April we confirmed the Government's commitment to delivering a Universal Service for broadband at a speed of 2 megabits per second, by no later than 2012. In the Digital Britain White Paper, published on 16 June, we set out our plan of how this Universal Service Commitment will be achieved.

Broadband: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department has allocated for expansion of high-speed broadband usage in  (a) Crosby and  (b) Merseyside since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has not allocated central funding for expansion of high-speed broadband usage in  (a) Crosby and  (b) Merseyside since 1997.
	As you may already be aware, in the Budget on 22 April the Chancellor confirmed the Government's commitment to delivering a universal service for broadband at a speed of 2 megabits per second, by no later than 2012. In the recently published Digital Britain report, we have set out in greater detail our plan of how the universal service commitment might work.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what range of broadband speeds the Universal Service Commitment will deliver to rural areas by 2012.

Patrick McFadden: The Digital Britain Report, published on 16 June outlined a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps for virtually everyone by 2012 under the Government's Universal Service Commitment (USC). Greater speeds may be achieved depending on the technology used to meet the USC and the Report estimated that approximately 1.5 million households may benefit from Next Generation broadband speeds as a result.

Business: Advisory Services

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress has been made in providing face-to-face advisory sessions on business advice open days as referred to in the Government's response to the Anderson Review of Good Guidance.

Ian Lucas: BIS, HMRC, ACAS and HSE have established a working group to take forward recommendations on improvements to HMRC's Business Advice Open Days (to be rolled out from autumn 2009). In the interim, the Better Regulation Executive are represented at the five Business Advice Open Days over the summer and will provide information on employment law guidance with the participation of BIS colleagues where possible.

Business: Credit

Don Touhig: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of levels of access to credit for small businesses.

Rosie Winterton: BIS makes regular assessments on the availability of credit to small businesses by monitoring statistics produced by the British Bankers Association (BBA) and the Bank of England, as well monitoring findings from a large number of regular surveys by business representative bodies. In addition, BIS collects data monthly from the five main banks on their lending activity to SMEs. BIS also carries out regular surveys of businesses examining a wide range of issues including access to finance.
	From these data sources, it is apparent that the stock of bank lending has increased compared to 2007 and 2008. For instance, the BBA has reported that the stock of bank lending to SMEs has increased in the first five months of 2009 and was about 4 per cent. higher in May 2009 than a year ago. However, there has been a decline in new bank lending to SMEs. This is due to a reduction in the demand for finance with declining loans and overdraft applications, as well as a decline in approval rates reflecting tighter credit conditions.
	Approval rates (approvals of new borrowing as a ratio to applications) have fallen compared to the corresponding months in 2007. Likewise, the BIS SME Barometer shows that although the majority of SMEs can obtain the finance they need, there has been a reduction in the proportion of businesses being able to raise finance. In February 2009, 60 per cent. of SME employers obtained some finance from the first source they approached. In comparison, the Annual Small Business Survey 2007-08 shows 84 per cent. of SME employers obtained some finance from the first source approached. Banks attribute the fall in approval rates due to a decline in the quality of applications as well as a tightening in credit availability.
	There has been a reduction in the demand for finance, as measured by the number of loans and overdrafts applications compared to corresponding months in 2007. This is especially pronounced for SMEs with turnover of less than l million. It is likely that businesses have become more cautious and are delaying capital investment.
	Although access to finance is vital for supporting businesses during the current difficult economic conditions, only a minority of businesses seek finance. The Business Barometer shows 21 per cent. of SME employers sought finance in the last six months. Furthermore, the majority of SMEs (39 per cent.) report the economy as the main barrier to the success of the business, compared to only 4 per cent. who report access to finance as the main barrier.

Business: EC Law

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment his Department has made of the cost to UK businesses of the implementation of EU regulations.

Ian Lucas: It is very difficult to provide precise figures for the cost to UK businesses of the implementation of legislation that stems from the European Union.
	The administrative burdens measurement exercise carried out by the Government in 2006 put the proportion of administrative burdens stemming from the EU at approximately 1/3 of the annual total of 13.2 billion.

Business: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been granted under the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to small and medium-sized businesses in  (a) the London Borough of Enfield and  (b) Enfield North constituency since the establishment of the scheme.

Rosie Winterton: The Enterprise Finance Guarantee was launched on 14 January. Information for the London borough of Enfield and Enfield North is as follows:
	
		
			  London borough of Enfield 
			   Number 
			 Loans offered 14 
			 Loans drawn 9 
		
	
	
		
			   Value ( million) 
			 Loans offered 1.37 
			 Loans drawn 0.66 
		
	
	
		
			  Enfield  North 
			   Number 
			 Loans offered 5 
			 Loans drawn 3 
		
	
	
		
			   Value ( million) 
			 Loans offered 0.87 
			 Loans drawn 0.32

Business: Government Assistance

Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how much lending has been guaranteed under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme;
	(2)  how many businesses have received assistance under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

Rosie Winterton: Since its launch on 14 January the Enterprise Finance Guarantee has over 596 million of eligible applications from 5,305 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed. 3,867 businesses have been offered loans totalling 381.23 million.

Business: Government Assistance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many loans have been granted under the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to small and medium-sized businesses in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point since the inception of that scheme.

Rosie Winterton: As follows are the numbers and value of loans secured under the enterprise finance guarantee for Essex and Castle Point since it was launched on 14 January 2009:
	
		
			   Essex  Castle Point 
			 Number of loans offered 126 10 
			 Value of loans offered ( million) 11.4 1.06 
			 Number of loans drawn 87 6 
			 Value of loans drawn ( million) 8.74 0.9

Business: Government Assistance

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what further assistance he plans to provide to  (a) small businesses,  (b) medium-sized businesses and  (c) large businesses in Essex in the next 12 months; what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: EEDA's business support services, which operate at a regional level, are all available to businesses in Essex. All business support is accessible through Business Link East. EEDA's Business Map,
	www.bizmapeast.co.uk
	is designed to help businesses navigate the network of publicly funded business support.
	Key business support services that will assist businesses in the region during the next 12 months are as follows:
	The EEDA-funded regional Business Link service provides access to a comprehensive range of independent, impartial advice to would-be entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses across the region. Within Essex, Business Link have three Partnership Directors overseeing activity specifically dedicated to supporting Essex businesses.
	EEDA along with UKTI funds East of England International (EEI) to offer an international trade and inward investment service, which provides the support to local businesses to grow internationally or export and to overseas-owned companies locating in the region
	EEDA's own specialist business support services include:
	Take ITon - assisting businesses to improve use of IT, focused on helping SMEs save costs through IT.
	Manufacturing Advisory Service East (MAS-East)  assisting businesses to introduce new manufacturing, innovation and design tools.
	Enterprising Women - specialist business support for women entrepreneurs.
	Inspiring Women - supporting economically inactive women to find employment or consider self-employment.
	Business Finance - EEDA manages a number of business finance schemes designed to help businesses in the region start up and grow, e.g.:
	Proof of Concept - grants up to 20,000 to define and quantify the market opportunity for a business
	Grants for Research and Development - grants from 5,000 to 250,000 to help businesses carry out research and development work
	Grant for Business Investment - grants from 10,000 to 2 million to establish, expand, diversify and modernise your business.
	Small Loans for Business - loans of 500 to 50,000 for start-ups, SMEs and social enterprises
	EEDA Regional Loan (Transition) - short-term loans of 100,000 to 150,000 for businesses turning over more than 1 million
	EEDA Regional Loan (Growth) - long-term loans of 50,000 to 200,000 for growth businesses.
	Innovation Vouchers - designed to help businesses purchase academic expertise from the region's universities to support innovation and business improvement.
	Understanding Finance for Business - a training course to help to make SME businesses investment-ready and be signposted to relevant sources of funding
	Beyond 2010 - in the next 12 months, EEDA will fund a 6.2 million project to work alongside Train to Gain to ensure that businesses can get the skills training that they need. This includes 2.2 million to support a regional Response to Redundancy programme which provides advice, guidance and re-training opportunities to individuals facing redundancy. The programme is linked to the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service.
	Resource Efficiency East - This scheme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness by using resources more efficiently. The project aims to save the region's SMEs 12m a year, and cut water consumption by 765,000 cubic metres, landfill by 81,000 tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tonnes.
	At an national level, there are also:
	the Enterprise Finance Guarantee is a temporary loan guarantee scheme which enables bank lending to SME's with a turnover of up to 25 million. The Government have set aside 1.3 billion to guarantee banks loans to SMEs who have been deemed viable but have little or no security. It is due to end in March 2010 and an announcement about what will replace EFG will be made in due course
	the Capital for Enterprise Fund is a 75 million equity scheme. Decisions on investments are made by the appointed fund managers and are based on the merits of the proposal and the outcome of the resulting due diligence, and not on the location of the business.

Business: Government Assistance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Castle Point have  (a) applied for and  (b) received assistance from the (i) Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and (ii) Capital for Enterprise Fund in 2009; and how much has been provided to businesses in Castle Point under each scheme.

Rosie Winterton: The number and value of loans offered and drawn under the enterprise finance guarantee for Castle Point since it was launched on 14 January 2009:
	
		
			   Enterprise finance guarantee 
			 Number of loans offered 10 
			 Value of loans offered ( million) 1.06 
			 Number of loans drawn 6 
			 Value of loans drawn ( million) 0.90 
		
	
	The Department only records information on a regional basis for the capital for enterprise fund and the information for the south-east is as follows:
	
		
			   South-east 
			 Number of loans under consideration 11 
			 Value of loans under consideration 18.3 
			 Number of loans offered 2 
			 Value of loans offered 3.2 
			 Number of offer terms agreed 1 
			 Value of offer terms agreed 2

Business: Government Assistance

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to assist  (a) small,  (b) medium-sized and  (c) large businesses in Hemel Hempstead; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Business Link, which is funded by East of England Development Agency (EEDA), provides access to independent and impartial business advice. Business Link engaged with 1,439 companies in Hemel Hempstead (parliamentary constituency) during 2008-09 out of 19,460 for the county of Hertfordshire.
	EEDA delivers a range of specialist business support services across the East of England accessible through Business Link East. All these services are available to businesses in Hemel Hempstead:
	EEDA along with UKTI funds East of England International (EEI) to offer an international trade and inward investment service for businesses in the region.
	EEDA's Take ITon campaign assists businesses to improve use of IT, focused on helping SMEs save costs through IT.
	Assistance for businesses to introduce new manufacturing, innovation and design tools through Manufacturing Advisory Service East (MAS-East).
	EEDA's specialist business support for women entrepreneurs, Enterprising Women, offers networking opportunities, a bank of mentors, promotional opportunities and a network of women ambassadors.
	Support for economically inactive women; Inspiring Women assists them to find employment or consider self-employment as a career option.
	EEDA manages a number of business finance schemes designed to help businesses in the region start up and grow. These include grants for Proof of Concept and Research and Developments, small loans for start-ups, SME's and social enterprises as well as short and long-term larger loans.
	EEDA's understanding finance for business programme to help businesses understand and access the most appropriate form of finance for your business/
	Resource Efficiency East scheme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness by using resources more efficiently.
	At a national level there is:
	the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) which is a temporary loan guarantee scheme launched on 14 January 2009. Under the EFG, Government will support up to 1.3 billion of bank loans to companies with a turnover of up to 25 million for working capital and investment. These will be smaller, viable, creditworthy firms that are struggling to access the finance they need because of the additional risk created by the downturn. EFG is due to end in March 2010 and an announcement about what will replace EFG will be made in due course.
	The Department records information on the Capital for Enterprise Fund on a regional basis, including the East of England. As of 7 July, the appointed fund managers report 44 formal inquiries from businesses in the East of England. Of which, one offer of investment totalling 2 million has been issued thus far.

Business: Government Assistance

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in Hemel Hempstead have  (a) applied for and  (b) received assistance from the (i) Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and (ii) Capital for Enterprise Fund in 2009; and how much funding has been provided to businesses in Hemel Hempstead under each such scheme in 2009.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested in respect of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee for Hemel Hempstead since it was launched on 14 January 2009 is as follows:
	
		
			   Enterprise Finance Guarantee 
			 Number of loans offered 8 
			 Value of loans offered ( million) 3 8 
			   
			 Number of loans drawn 5 
			 Value of loans drawn ( million) 0.24 
		
	
	The Department only records information on a regional basis for the capital for Enterprise Fund and the information for the East region is as follows:
	
		
			   Enterprise fund 
			 Number of loans under consideration 1 
			 Value of loans under consideration ( million) 1 
			   
			 Number of loans offered 1 
			 Value of loans offered ( million) 2 
			   
			 Number of offer terms agreed 0 
			 Value of offer terms agreed ( million) 0

Business: Government Assistance

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire (i) have sought access to funding under and (ii) are receiving assistance from the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

Rosie Winterton: Set out in the following tables is the information for the Enterprise Finance Guarantee for and Hemel Hempstead and Hertfordshire Point since it was launched on 14 January 2009:
	
		
			   Hemel Hempstead 
			 Number of loans offered 8 
			 Value of loans offered ( million) 0.38 
			   
			 Number of loans drawn 5 
			 Value of loans drawn ( million) 0.24 
		
	
	
		
			   Hertfordshire 
			 Number of loans offered 110 
			 Value of loans offered ( million) 10 
			   
			 Number of loans drawn 78 
			 Value of loans drawn ( million) 7.09

Business: Government Assistance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much had been lent through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme up to 3 July 2009; and how many companies had received loans under that scheme.

Rosie Winterton: Since its launch on the 14 of January the Enterprise Finance Guarantee has over 596 million of eligible applications from 5,305 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed. 3,867 businesses have been offered loans totalling 381.23 million

Business: Government Assistance

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much in loans guarantees have been  (a) applied for and  (b) provided under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

Rosie Winterton: Since its launch on 14 January the Enterprise Finance Guarantee has over 596 million of eligible applications from 5,305 firms that have been granted, are being processed or assessed. 3,867 businesses have been offered loans totalling 381.23 million.

Business: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what business support measures his Department provides for small and medium-sized businesses in Denton and Reddish.

Rosie Winterton: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Warrington, South (Helen Southworth) on 20 July 2009,  Official Report, column 1103W.

Business: Public Sector

Margaret Moran: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assistance his Department plans to give to micro-businesses to compete for  (a) Government and  (b) local government contracts;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to assist small and medium-sized enterprises to work together to obtain public sector contracts.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are committed to making it easier for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), including micro-businesses, to compete in public procurement.
	To that end, the Government are working to deliver the recommendations in the Glover committee report 'Accelerating the SME Economic Engine'.
	The Committee's Report can be found at:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/Accelerating_the_SME_Economic_Enqine.pdf
	One of the recommendations is that public procurers should, during the advertising process, flag opportunities thought especially suitable for SMEs or consortia of SMEs. OGC will shortly issue departments with guidance to help them do this. OGC is also working to develop training for Government procurers in SME-friendly practices, including early engagement with businesses to help them understand public sector needs and enable business to come together to form consortia for future bids.

Business: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies in Wales have  (a) applied for and  (b) received assistance under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme in each of the last six months; and how much each participating lender has provided to each in each month.

Rosie Winterton: In Wales, as of 1 July, 15 million of eligible applications from 200 firms have been granted, processed or assessed. Of which, 183 businesses have been offered loans totalling 12.9 million.

Carbon Emissions

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what work his Department plans to undertake on policy on the low carbon economy.

Patrick McFadden: The Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, published recently, outlines the strategic role of Government in helping UK businesses maximise the economic benefits from the transition to a low carbon economy. It builds on an ambitious vision, set out by the Prime Minister on 6 March, and the Government's commitment in Budget 2009 to 1.4 billion of targeted support for the low carbon economy.

Company Accounts

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many penalties for the late submission of accounts were issued by Companies House in each month in the last four years; how much revenue was raised; and what this revenue has been used for.

Ian Lucas: The following is the information:
	
		
			  PLC and private companies in Great Britain 
			   Number of late filing penalty invoices issued  Revenue raised() 
			 April 2005 17,268 2,505,000 
			 May 2005 16,478 1,980,000 
			 June 2005 15,890 2,145,000 
			 July 2005 14,667 1,800,000 
			 August 2005 15,820 2,042,000 
			 September 2005 15,885 1,652,000 
			 October 2005 13,795 2,745,000 
			 November 2005 14,671 5,145,000 
			 December 2005 12,075 2,522,000 
			 January 2006 22,574 2,500,000 
			 February 2006 21,410 3,512,000 
			 March 2006 21,356 1,752,000 
			 April 2006 17,235 3,272,000 
			 May 2006 17,959 1,982,000 
			 June 2006 18,314 5,238,000 
			 July 2006 15,224 1,992,000 
			 August 2006 17,968 1,985,000 
			 September 2006 16,258 1,992,000 
			 October 2006 15,969 1,577,000 
			 November 2006 19,908 6,404,000 
			 December 2006 16,114 1,981,000 
			 January 2007 21,005 3,954,000 
			 February 2007 19,721 3,948,000 
			 March 2007 25,223 4,476,000 
			 April 2007 19,062 2,161,000 
			 May 2007 21,393 3,127,000 
			 June 2007 18,937 5,105,000 
			 July 2007 21,927 3,119,000 
			 August 2007 21,445 4,115,000 
			 September 2007 18,008 2,634,000 
			 October 2007 17,397 3,097,000 
			 November 2007 22,692 4,116,000 
			 December 2007 16,289 3,147,000 
			 January 2008 20,748 4,129,000 
			 February 2008 22,334 3,621,000 
			 March 2008 18,467 3,629,000 
			 April 2008 21,348 3,979,000 
			 May 2008 20,552 3,619,000 
			 June 2008 16,074 3,619,000 
			 July 2008 20,616 3,429,000 
			 August 2008 20,926 3,546,000 
			 September 2008 17,818 4,057,000 
			 October 2008 19,872 5,039,000 
			 November 2008 20,774 4,021,000 
			 December 2008 22,076 2,510,000 
			 January 2009 24,214 4,984,000 
			 February 2009 32,275 5,022,000 
			 March 2009 26,912 9,039,000 
		
	
	Please note that revenue raised in any one month does not relate to the penalties issued in that month.
	Companies House is unable to say what the revenue has been used for as it is passed to HM Treasury.

Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what guidance has been provided by  (a) his Department and  (b) the Certification Officer, on the application of the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc Regulations 2008 to the sale of trade union membership.

Kevin Brennan: The Department for Business, Innovations and Skills has produced general guidance, available on the BIS website, about the Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008. The guidance does not specifically cover the application of the Regulations to the sale of union membership in a workplace.
	This is not an issue within the Certification Officer's jurisdiction and he has produced no guidance on the Regulations.

Corus: North East

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Government plans to take to secure the future of Corus in the North East.

Ian Lucas: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has spoken to Kirby Adams, chief executive officer of Corus, on a number of occasions about the situation at Teesside Cast Products. In addition, officials have held ongoing discussions with the company to explore ways in which the Government can help resolve the dispute with the partners to the 10-year off-take agreement in a way that avoids job losses.
	We have urged Corus and, through our embassies overseas, the Consortia to keep working together to resolve their differences and reach a satisfactory solution that avoids redundancies. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills has also spoken direct to Corus and Marcegaglia (the Italian member of the Consortia) and as a result we understand that a meeting between Corus and Consortia members will take place soon at which Corus will present a proposal for a new contract and new commercial terms to replace the old agreement.
	As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister stated in the House on 13 May, the Government stands ready to do whatever they can to support the company. We are not prepared to reconcile ourselves to the inevitable closure of this plant.
	In addition, the Government have offered the company 5 million training support, some of which could be used in the North East to train the work force, retain capacity in the UK, and help the company through the downturn and to recover more strongly in the upturn. This offer is a signal of the Government's commitment to Corus and its work force.

Demos

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what  (a) private meetings and  (b) public engagements Ministers in his Department and its predecessors have attended at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Departmental Accountancy

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to publish his Department's resource accounts for 2008-09.

Patrick McFadden: For Accounting, Estimates and Budgeting purposes, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will continue to comprise of the former Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the former Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), until the transfer of functions order is authorised and a new estimate is approved by Parliament, at the same time as the winter supplementary estimates.
	Both Departments plan to lay annual reports and accounts prior to the summer parliamentary recess. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Departmental Billing

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of invoices his Department and its agencies paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of invoices his Department and its agencies paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Since November 2008, the first full month of recording the new target, the then Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has paid the following invoices within 10 working days:
	
		
			   Number of invoices paid  Percentage 
			 November 2008 2,365 93.1 
			 December 2008 2,222 96.9 
			 January 2009 2,535 96.7 
			 February 2009 2,324 96.2 
			 March 2009 3,119 97.2 
			 April 2009 2,428 96.3 
			 May 2009 2,284 89.1 
		
	
	Until October 2008, BERR was required to monitor and publish payment performance against a 30-day payment target. The first full month of formal recording against the 10-day target was November 2008 and information about payment performance within ten days prior to this date is not available.
	Since December 2008, the then Department for Innovation Universities and Skills paid the following invoices within 10 working days:
	
		
			   Number of invoices paid  Number paid in 10 working days  Percentage 
			 December 2008 3,178 3,049 96 
			 January 2009 1,101 1,000 91 
			 February 2009 1,904 1,831 96 
			 March 2009 2,634 2,513 95 
			 April 2009 870 663 76 
			 May 2009 610 493 81 
		
	
	The first full month of formal recording against the 10-day target was December 2008 and information about payment performance within ten working days prior to this date is not available.
	The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills fully supports the PM's commitment of 8 October that central Government Departments will make payment within 10 days. We also currently encourage our leading suppliers to pass on our credit terms and will be working with them to reduce payment times along the entire supply chain.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's Executive agencies and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.

Departmental Billing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many days on average  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies has taken to pay invoices from suppliers in each month since November 2008.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 10 June 2009
	Since November 2008, BIS (formerly BERR and DIUS) have paid the following invoices:
	
		
			  Month  Number invoices paid  Average time to pay (days) 
			 November 2008 3,184 5.1 
			 December 2008 3,389 4.0 
			 January 2009 3,351 4.7 
			 February 2009 3,091 4.8 
			 March 2009 4,275 4.9 
			 April 2009 3,314 4.8 
			 May 2009 2,833 4.4 
		
	
	I have approached the chief executives of the Department's executive agencies and they will respond to you directly.

Departmental Consultants

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on consultants in  (a) 2008 and  (b) 2009.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 20 July 2009
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spent the following on consultants in financial years 2007/08, 2008/09 and 1 April 2009 to end June 2009.
	
		
			
			 2007/08 19,603,077 
			 2008/09 31,448,452 
			 1 April 2009 to end June 2009 2,297,192

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) photocopiers,  (b) scanning devices and  (c) fax machines, excluding multi-function devices, there are in his Department; how many there were in his Department's predecessors in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Much of the information requested is not held centrally by this Department as locally held equipment is the responsibility of individual Groups and it would involve disproportionate cost to establish this.
	In terms of photocopiers used in our central Reprographics pools, which included a service to ex-DIUS staff in central London, there were 23 machines in 2007-08, 22 in 2008-09 and 19 currently.
	The scanners provided as part of the Departments core IT service are multi-function devices.
	The current number of operational fax machines across the BIS estate is 126. There are no historical records for fax machines used by BIS's predecessors, but there has been a rationalisation in recent years as the Department has introduced flexible working practices across its Estate.
	I would also refer the hon. Member to the Government Strategy Greening Government ICT: Efficient, Sustainable, Responsible published on 17 July 2008,  Official Report, column 53WS.

Departmental Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what family-friendly working policies his Department and its predecessors have implemented in the last 12 years.

Patrick McFadden: In the last 12 years the Government have made great progress on providing support to working parents and encouraging family-friendly working practices through a balanced package which takes account of the needs of parents and the businesses which employ them. This includes significant improvements in maternity leave and pay. All employed women are now entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave with 39 weeks' maternity pay. Employed fathers benefit from two weeks' paid paternity leave. Adopters are now entitled to the same periods of pay and leave as birth parents.
	We have ensured support does not end after the first year. Parents of children aged 16 or under, or whose child is disabled, can request a flexible working pattern. Employers must consider the request but may refuse on set business grounds. Eligible parents can take up to 13 weeks' parental leave up to their child's fifth birthday. Parents of disabled children can take up to 18 weeks' parental leave up to their child's 18th birthday.
	The wider needs of families are also recognisedcarers of adults can also request a flexible working pattern and all employees are able to take a reasonable amount of time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant.

Departmental Internet

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on the development of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website.

Patrick McFadden: The information is as follows.
	Cost breakdown (exc. VAT):
	Design and development: no external costs, as a free open source platform was used
	Hosting setup: 1,160.00
	Hosting (monthly charge): 449.00

Departmental Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2009,  Official Report, column 193W, on departmental internet, what the  (a) names and  (b) versions are of the web browsers used on the (i) desktop machines and (ii) laptop computers used by his Department's (A) Permanent Secretary, (B) chief information officer, (C) head of communications and (D) head of finance.

Patrick McFadden: All users in BIS currently use Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 6 from their Desktop PC and Laptops.

Departmental Lost Property

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many laptop computers belonging to  (a) his Department and its predecessors and  (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years.

Patrick McFadden: The number of laptops reported lost or stolen from 2005 to end May 2009 is 46.
	I have approached the chief executives of the Executive agencies and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.

Departmental Manpower

Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what percentage of employees in his Department are  (a) women and  (b) men; and what the average hourly pay of his Department's (i) male employees and (ii) female employees was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 16 July 2009
	 53 per cent. of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills work force are men and the remaining 47 per cent. are women. The average hourly salary for women is 15.44 and for men is 17.91.

Departmental Press

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what  (a) newspapers and  (b) periodicals are delivered to the private office of each Minister in his Department, and at what cost, in the latest period for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: The following list details what  (a) newspapers and  (b) periodicals are delivered to the private office of each Minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The total monthly cost at the present time is 899.20.
	 Newspaper/periodicals
	 Express
	Secretary of State
	 Mail
	Secretary of State
	Pat McFadden
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	 Mirror
	Secretary of State
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Young
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	 Telegraph
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Carter
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	 FT
	Secretary of State
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Carter
	Lord Drayson
	Lord Young
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	Ian Lucas
	 Guardian
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Carter
	Lord Drayson
	Lord Young
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	Ian Lucas
	 International Herald Tribune
	Secretary of State
	Lord Carter
	 Independent
	Secretary of State
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Carter
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	 Sun
	Secretary of State
	Pat McFadden
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	 Times
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Carter
	Lord Drayson
	Lord Young
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	Ian Lucas
	 Times Higher
	Lord Drayson
	Lord Young
	Kevin Brennan
	David Lammy
	 Times Educational
	Kevin Brennan
	 Evening Standard 1st Edition
	Pat McFadden
	Rosie Winterton
	 Evening Standard West End Final
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Lord Carter
	 Economist
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Pat McFadden
	Lord Carter
	Lord Young
	Kevin Brennan
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	 New Statesman
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Pat McFadden
	Baroness Vadera
	Lord Carter
	David Lammy
	Rosie Winterton
	Ian Lucas
	 New Scientist
	Lord Young
	 Spectator
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Baroness Vadera
	Lord Carter
	 Private Eye
	Secretary of State
	Lord Davies
	Baroness Vadera
	Lord Carter
	 The Week
	Lord Davies
	 Fortune
	Lord Davies
	 Broadcast
	Lord Carter
	 Campaign
	Lord Carter
	 Marketing Week
	Lord Carter
	 Rail Times
	Lord Carter
	 Harvard Business Review
	Lord Young
	 European Voice
	Pat McFadden
	Ian Lucas
	 Voice Weekly
	David Lammy

Departmental Stationery

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department and its predecessor spent on branded stationery and gifts for  (a) internal and  (b) external promotional use in each of the last five years.

Patrick McFadden: Central records indicate that spending by the former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on branded stationery in the financial year 2008/09 was 72,208.35.
	This covers all branded stationery, such as business cards, letterheads, folders, compliment slips and special forms, purchased through a new central stationery supplier by BERR, UKTI, BERR's two agencies, Companies House and the Insolvency Service and the following BERR delivery partners: ACAS, Low Pay Commission, Office of Manpower Economics (OME), SITPRO and the Tribunal Services. It also includes spend on branded stationery procured by the Strategic Marketing team.
	Complete figures for spending by the former BERR on all branded stationery in previous years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The following figures are available for spending on headed stationery via the previous central stationery supplier and a range of branded stationery items procured by the strategic marketing team:

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what training courses have been attended by special advisers in his Department and its predecessors in the last 12 months; and at what cost.

Patrick McFadden: Special advisers receive training as appropriate to enable them to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as set out in the model contract for special advisers.
	Internal laptop training was provided on 12 December 2008, at a cost of 310. No further training courses have been attended by special advisers for my Department, and its predecessors, within the last 12 months.

Departmental Work Experience

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid graduate internships his Department has awarded in each of the last six months.

David Lammy: It is an important principle set out in legislation (sections 65(1) and 68(2b) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992) that Ministers cannot intervene in the funding decisions of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). As is the case with other universities, London Metropolitan university receives grant from HEFCE under a Financial Memorandum which sets out how it should properly account for its public funding. It is for the Funding Council to keep the financial health of the institutions it funds under review to protect the public interest, including ensuring that public funds are properly spent. This month I have met with the UCU representative and a number of staff from the institution.
	I know that the process of restructuring can be very difficult and unsettling for both staff and students, but am pleased that the Council's chief executive has met with the new Interim Vice Chancellor to further discuss the way forward. The final decision must though rest with the university and i remain confident that higher education provision in general across London will be sufficient to meet the diversity of demand. No Government though can give a commitment to protect every course or department at any particular institution.

Departmental Work Experience

Phil Willis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many interns work in his Department; what terms of reference apply to their appointment; what remuneration they receive; and how long on average an intern appointment lasts.

Patrick McFadden: The Department currently has four interns. They are employed on a training contract and receive 300 per week outside London and 350 inside London for a period of around 12 weeks.

Digital Broadcasting: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the number of  (a) households and  (b) businesses in (i) Hemel Hempstead, (ii) Dacorum and (iii) Hertfordshire which will be liable for payment of the proposed levy contained in the Digital Britain White Paper.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has made no specific estimate of the number of  (a) households and  (b) businesses in (i) Hemel Hempstead, (ii) Dacorum and (iii) Hertfordshire liable for payment of the proposed levy contained in the Digital Britain White Paper. The independent regulator, Ofcom estimates, however that Hertfordshire has 477,235 fixed lines of which Hemel Hempstead has 43,260, with 1,700 businesses. As the analysis was not carried out at boundary level, but rather at constituency and county level, Ofcom do not have estimates for Dacorum.
	Under existing rules any individual in receipt of income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, pensions credit (guaranteed credit) or employment and support allowance (income related) is entitled to social telephony. As set out in the Digital Britain White Paper published on 16 June 2009 the Government do not wish to see a widening digital divide. Therefore the Government expect that individuals that subscribe to social telephony packages would also be exempt from the broadband levy to fund the deployment of next generation networks.

EC Law

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which his Department is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: It is very difficult to provide precise figures for the proportion of UK legislation that stems from the European Union. The administrative burdens measurement exercise (ABME) carried out by the Government in 2006 put the proportion of administrative burdens stemming from the EU at approximately 1/3 of the total administrative burden.
	No figures are available for legislation for which BIS is responsible. The ABME report for the former DTI is available at
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file35841.pdf
	The important thing is not the origins of legislation, which could of course be a devolved administration or a local authority, as well as the Government or the EU, but the quality of the regulation. All regulations, irrespective of their origins, should comply with the principles of better regulation. Regulations should be risk based, proportionate and well designed, so as to achieve their objectives whilst also keeping costs to a minimum. The Government continue to work with European partners to ensure that EU regulations meet these standards.

Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the economy of downshifting by employees.

Patrick McFadden: To date the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not undertaken any research in this area.
	The Government are closely monitoring the labour market impacts of the current economic challenges. We are committed to supporting the UK through the recession and believe the measures we have in place to support businesses and workers are effective.
	The reports of approaches such as downshifting highlight that in some areas employers and staff are working together to protect businesses and jobs. This is evidence of the flexibility of the UK labour marketthese approaches help to protect jobs of those affected and help ensure that businesses retain the skills needed to respond to future opportunities.

Energy: Disconnections

John Mason: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many customers have been disconnected by each energy provider in each of the last eight quarters.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	Ofgem monitors the level of debt and disconnection and publishes relevant data in annual and quarterly reports. The most recent quarterly report was published in January 2009 and contained data for the third quarter of 2008.
	Data from these reports show that the numbers of electricity and gas customers disconnected for debt over the last eight quarters were:
	
		
			  Supplier  Fuel  Q4 2006  Q1 2007  Q2 2007  Q3 2007  Q4 2007  Q1 2008  Q2 2008  Q3 2008 
			 British Gas Elec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Gas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Countrywide Gas Gas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 E.ON(1) Elec 26 49 79 124 224 152 159 26 
			  Gas 99 189 153 293 293 198 225 22 
			   
			 Ecotricity Elec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 EDF Energy Elec 99 71 89 181 153 186 361 315 
			  Gas 166 120 206 278 274 305 284 281 
			   
			 Electricity and Gas Plus Supply Ltd.(2) Elec 0 0 0 0 0 7 11 9 
			  Gas 2 2 0 0 0 8 39 18 
			   
			 First Utility Elec n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Gas n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Good Energy Elec 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 
			   
			 Npower(3) Elec 171 238 148 194 281 101 60 61 
			  Gas 464 711 609 582 441 308 33 13 
			   
			 Scottish and Southern Elec 37 50 64 31 33 31 42 61 
			  Gas 187 162 293 132 141 104 129 64 
			   
			 Scottish Power Elec 124 136 202 142 168 252 323 208 
			  Gas 241 205 277 177 189 184 229 237 
			   
			 Utlita Elec n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Gas n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 Total Elec 457 544 582 672 859 729 960 687 
			  Gas 1,159 1,389 1,538 1,462 1,338 1,107 939 635 
			 (1) Up to and including Q4 this supplier was reported on as Powergen. (2) Up to and including Q4 2006 this supplier was reported on as Telecom Plus. (3) Npower figures through to Q4 2007 also include Npower Northern and Npower Yorkshire. 
		
	
	Full details of Ofgem's annual and quarterly reports can be found online at:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Monitoring/SoObMonitor/Pages/SocObMonitor.aspx

Energy: Expenditure

Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to paragraph 7.28 of Budget 2009, how the 250 million of funding allocated to his Department for low-carbon energy and green manufacturing will be spent.

Patrick McFadden: The first investments from the 250 million of funding allocated for low carbon economic development will be set out in the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy on Wednesday 15 July. All funding will be allocated, examining the costs and benefits, consistent with Green Book criteria.

Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the lending terms of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme.

Rosie Winterton: The lending terms for the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) are that the business:
	meets an approved EFG lender's commercial lending criteria and determination that use of EFG is appropriate;
	has a turnover ofupto25 million; and
	is seeking a loan of between 1,000 and 1 million;
	The EFG loan (either unsecured or partially secured) may be used as a new term loan, as a new term loan specifically for the purpose of transferring long term debt out of an overdraft in order to release capacity in the overdraft or as refinancing of an existing secured loan which would otherwise be withdrawn due to deterioration in the quality of the security
	EFG is available for most business purposes and sectors. However, EFG is subject to certain sector restrictions arising from the EU De Minimis Aid rules, the Industrial Development Act 1982 (which provides the statutory basis for EFG) and also for national policy reasons which are detailed on the BIS website.

Export Credits Guarantee Dept

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2009,  Official Report, column 766W, on the Export Credits Guarantee Department, what projects the Export Credits Guarantee Department supported through its Fixed Rate Export Finance Scheme between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2008; and what the  (a) date of approval,  (b) amount of exposure at that date,  (c) UK company concerned,  (d) destination country for the export and  (e) project or product involved was in each case.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 16 July 2009
	Details of exports supported under ECGD's Fixed Rate Export Finance (FREF) scheme between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2008 are provided as follows:
	
		
			  Date of approval  Amount of exposure at that date ()  UK company concerned  Destination country of the export  Project or product involved 
			 25 January 2002 35,700,000 Mabey and Johnson Ltd Papua New Guinea Steel bridgework 
			 25 February 2002 600,000 Alstom Power UK Mexico Spares for gas turbines 
			 14 March 2002 300,000 Angloco Ltd St. Lucia Firefighting vehicles 
			 11 April 2002 33,515,984 Alstom Power Plants Ltd Turkey Reinsurance to Coface relating to 2x 160 MLO Power Station at Can 
			 16 June 2002 27,132,515 Airbus SAS Hong Kong Airbus aircraft 
			 20 June 2002 362,554 Sedgewall Communication Group Ltd Tunisia Railway communications equipment 
			 2 July 2002 2,678,800 NSG Exports Ltd Barbados Vehicles and equipment for road network improvement 
			 18 July 2002 19,300,000 Airbus SAS Qatar Airbus aircraft 
			 29 July 2002 1,294,148 Dunlop Oil and Marine Ltd Mexico Supply of 86 oil transportation hoses 
			 14 August 2002 2,656,421 Findel Education Ltd Brazil Laboratory equipment 
			 14 August 2002 214,433 John Gordon Ltd Costa Rica Coffee husk burners for coffee dryers 
			 12 September 2002 358,851 Vikoma International Ltd Mexico Hi-Sprint oil spill containment boom system 
			 25 September 2002 778,274 Alstom Power UK Mexico Overhaul of 2 TA 1750 gas generators 
			 3 October 2002 975 Angloco Ltd St. Lucia Firefighting vehicles 
			 21 October 2002 1,674,211 Telspec Europe Ltd Kazakhstan Supply of pair gains technology 
			 26 November 2002 7,347,003 Odebrecht Oil and Gas Services Ltd Mexico Supply of goods and rendering of services for a living quarters platform 
			 26 November 2002 1,627,704 Mabey and Johnson ltd Venezuela 8 compact bridges 
			 6 February 2003 117,405 Kier International Ltd Jamaica Flyover bridges 
			 7 February 2003 2,931,733 Saywell International Ltd Brazil Aircraft generators, avionics and ancillary equipment 
			 10 February 2003 11,237,003 Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd Brazil Ejection seat equipment 
			 17 February 2003 11,729,401 Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd Brazil Supply of ejection seat and associated equipment for AL-X Super Tucano aircraft 
			 14 March 2003 526,605 Mabey and Johnson Ltd Dominican Republic Steel bridgework 
			 11 April 2003 1,833,445 Rolls Wood Group (Repair and Overhaul) Ltd Mexico Generator upgrade 
			 13 June 2003 7,279,627 Lagan International ltd Maldives Upgrade of Gan International Airport 
			 17 June 2003 19,790,378 Mabey and Johnson Ltd Jamaica Steel bridges 
			 15 July 2003 21,766,910 Mabey and Johnson Ltd Sri Lanka Bridge refurbishment 
			 29 August 2003 8,994,118 Thales Training and Simulation Ltd Tunisia A320 Flight simulator 
			 5 September 2003 2,228,540 MRB Schumag Ltd Mexico Tube drawing machinery 
			 23 October 2003 4,121,687 Thales ATM Ltd Dominican Republic Radar and Control centre for Punta Cana Airport 
			 19 November 2003 4,019,245 MRB Schumag Ltd Mexico Copper tube processing plant 
			 29 April 2004 3,034,619 Sir William Halcrow and Partners Ltd Venezuela Phase 4 of Barcelona project 
			 3 November 2004 6,636,455 Kellogg Brown and Root Ltd Kazakhstan Engineering services for Alibekmola oil field 
			 22 February 2005 799,093 Guralp Systems Ltd Turkey Earthquake and Seismology equipment 
			 30 August 2005 92,827,324 Mabey and Johnson Ltd Philippines Highways, bridges and flyovers 
			 12 October 2005 31,964,268 Rolls-Royce Power Engineering plc Brazil Power generation modules 
			 12 October 2005 7,768,717 VWS Westgarth Ltd Brazil P52 Sulphate reduction 
			 12 October 2005 2,513,830 Koch Chemical Technology Group Ltd Brazil Vacuum dearation for P52 project 
			 12 October 2005 1,578,285 Invsat Ltd Brazil Telecom package for P52 project 
			 24 November 2006 50,800,373 Mabey and Johnson Ltd Philippines Rural bridges programme 
			 31 January 2007 23,955,611 Thales Training and Simulation Limited Russia Superjet 100 full flight simulators 
			 20 May 2008 18,720,905 PW Limited Ghana Construction of Kotoka Airport 
			  Notes: (i) The amount of exposure shown is the maximum liability under the ECGD guarantee; FREF support may have been provided in whole or in part of that amount; (ii) The domicile of the obligor or, if applicable, the guarantor of the obligor under the ECGD facility has been given as the destination country of the export. Exceptionally, exports are supplied to a different country from that of the obligor and/or the guarantor; and (iii) Information on two FREF cases has not been provided as disclosure would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the obligors or international relations or both.

Higher Education: Admissions

Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of creating 5,000 further student places in 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: holding answer 20 July 2009
	In 2008-09 the total cost of the maintenance grant and RAB cost of loans was around 3,000 per student where the RAB charge represents the future cost to Government of subsidising and writing off the loans issued. 3,000 is likely to be an under-estimate of providing an extra place in 2009-10 because it is partly based on students falling under less generous student support regulations than are in operation in 2009-10. The maximum total grant and RAB cost per entrant in 2009-10 is around 5,200, therefore the academic year student support cost for the first year of study for 5,000 additional entrants in 2009 could be anything up to 26 million; depending on students' individual characteristics.
	No estimate of teaching costs is offered here as these vary between courses and institutions. The allocation of teaching grant to institutions to help meet these costs is governed by HEFCE. Guidance on how HEFCE allocates its funds is available at:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2008/08 33/

Higher Education: Admissions

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the letter of 21 July 2009 from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, how many additional students he expects to be in higher education in 2009-10; and what progress the Government has made towards its commitment of having half of all young people attend higher education by 2010.

David Lammy: Our grant letter to HEFCE this year confirmed additional teaching grant funding for the equivalent of an extra 10,000 full-time-equivalent places in 2009-10. HEFCE estimate that this will result in 3,000 additional full-time first year entrants. Further to this, we announced on 20 July 2009 that we would be providing financial support for an additional 10,000 students in science, technology, engineering and maths over the duration of their course in Higher Education. We will not receive outturn data on the 2009-10 student population until early 2011.
	The Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 target was to increase participation in Higher Education towards 50 per cent. of those aged 18 to 30 with growth of at least a percentage point every two years to the academic year 2010-11. Over half of young people from all social backgrounds aspire to go to university. Progression towards 50 per cent. is a measure of how well we are responding to the families who want the best for their children while making an essential investment in our economic success. Latest figures showed 43.3 per cent. of 17-30 year olds participated for the first time in higher education in 2007-08.

Higher Education: Greater Manchester

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people resident in each local authority area in Greater Manchester  (a) applied for and  (b) enrolled on a course in a higher education institution in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: The latest information from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) on the number of applicants and accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses is shown in table 1.
	
		
			  Table 1: Applicants and accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses via Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) 
			  Academic year  Bolton  Bury  Manchester  Oldham  Rochdale  Salford 
			  Applicants   
			 1997-98 1,704 1,187 2,588 1,129 1,205 929 
			 1998-99 1,644 1,236 2,475 1,091 1,224 962 
			 1999-2000 1,624 1,210 2,517 1,166 1,289 905 
			 2000-01 1,542 1,239 2,585 1,161 1,262 888 
			 2001-02 1,661 1,249 2,709 1,363 1,316 954 
			 2002-03 1,591 1,253 2,825 1,392 1,355 986 
			 2003-04 1,719 1,296 3,124 1,314 1,290 1,042 
			 2004-05 1,769 1,310 3,328 1,409 1,307 1,047 
			 2005-06 1,725 1,409 3,812 1,369 1,302 1,144 
			 2006-07 1,796 1,392 3,571 1,493 1,533 1,308 
			 2007-08 1,857 1,468 3,922 1,652 1,495 1,392 
			 2008-09 2,113 1,649 4,540 1,802 1,783 1,640 
			
			  Accepted applicants   
			 1997-98 1,350 920 1,821 908 964 673 
			 1998-99 1,322 977 1,775 872 957 727 
			 1999-2000 1,343 974 1,863 923 1,033 699 
			 2000-01 1,264 998 1,950 943 1,013 710 
			 2001-02 1,392 1,010 2,074 1,125 1,026 745 
			 2002-03 1,320 1,047 2,214 1,162 1,102 778 
			 2003-04 1,430 1,087 2,414 1,085 1,038 848 
			 2004-05 1,463 1,079 2,528 1,107 1,027 787 
			 2005-06 1,423 1,168 2,926 1,096 1,019 881 
			 2006-07 1,456 1,176 2,752 1,247 1,199 995 
			 2007-08 1,500 1,214 3,023 1,366 1,229 1,066 
			 2008-09 1,726 1,393 3,504 1,493 1,465 1,252 
		
	
	
		
			  Academic year  Stockport  Tameside  Trafford  Wigan 
			  Applicants 
			 1997-98 2,025 986 1,587 1,320 
			 1998-99 2,098 969 1,654 1,436 
			 1999-2000 1,990 925 1,590 1,422 
			 2000-01 1,946 959 1,511 1,390 
			 2001-02 1,997 980 1,523 1,490 
			 2002-03 1,989 1,023 1,581 1,390 
			 2003-04 2,015 996 1,574 1,540 
			 2004-05 2,047 988 1,585 1,497 
			 2005-06 2,304 1,083 1,626 1,639 
			 2006-07 2,148 1,209 1,991 1,661 
			 2007-08 2,223 1,313 2,060 1,671 
			 2008-09 2,335 1,467 2,283 1,989 
			  
			  Accepted applicants 
			 1997-98 1,623 765 1,259 1,026 
			 1998-99 1,679 748 1,312 1,121 
			 1999-2000 1,609 723 1,289 1,141 
			 2000-01 1,609 783 1,230 1,123 
			 2001-02 1,680 775 1,263 1,209 
			 2002-03 1,725 838 1,328 1,187 
			 2003-04 1,687 818 1,329 1,253 
			 2004-05 1,732 814 1,318 1,242 
			 2005-06 1,924 886 1,387 1,376 
			 2006-07 1,812 979 1,664 1,369 
			 2007-08 1,886 1,036 1,740 1,366 
			 2008-09 1,979 1,198 1,914 1,626 
			  Source: UCAS 
		
	
	The latest information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on the number of students enrolled on their first year of their course is shown in table 2.
	Figures for the 2008-09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
	
		
			  Table 2: Full-time and part-time undergraduate entrants from Greater Manchester local authorities( 1) UK higher education institutions( 2) , academic years 1997-98 to 2007-08 
			  Academic year  Mode of study  Bolton  Bury  Manchester  Oldham  Rochdale 
			 1997-98 FT 1,525 995 1,980 960 1,025 
			  PT 495 340 480 320 285 
			 1998-99 FT 1,555 1,075 1,775 915 1,030 
			  PT 640 445 740 395 390 
			 1999-2000 FT 1,615 1,120 2,030 990 1,155 
			  PT 640 470 680 375 390 
			 2000-01 FT 1,505 1,140 1,990 1,025 1,160 
			  PT 575 450 575 385 390 
			 2001-02 FT 1,735 1,185 2,250 1,195 1,225 
			  PT 610 510 685 305 395 
			 2002-03 FT 1,690 1,195 2,465 1,230 1,255 
			  PT 665 560 725 340 425 
			 2003-04 FT 1,730 1,235 2,510 1,180 1,240 
			  PT 705 545 1,200 435 510 
			 2004-05 FT 1,830 1,265 2,770 1,200 1,195 
			  PT 770 575 1,175 480 490 
			 2005-06 FT 1,770 1,280 2,850 1,415 1,295 
			  PT 740 515 1,245 575 565 
			 2006-07 FT 1,700 1,215 2,635 1,350 1,215 
			  PT 675 505 970 440 450 
			 2007-08 FT 1,565 1,215 2,820 1,350 1,235 
			  PT 610 465 855 430 415 
		
	
	
		
			  Academic year  Mode of study  Salford  Stockport  Tameside  Trafford  Wigan 
			 1997-98 FT 805 1,580 850 1,370 1,140 
			  PT 370 305 180 315 490 
			 1998-99 FT 820 1,645 775 1,385 1,225 
			  PT 465 535 295 585 640 
			 1999-2000 FT 805 1,670 825 1,400 1,360 
			  PT 415 480 285 440 690 
			 2000-01 FT 825 1,575 855 1,425 1,260 
			  PT 405 445 250 430 595 
			 2001-02 FT 890 1,730 910 1,445 1,405 
			  PT 365 535 335 420 605 
			 2002-03 FT 970 1,860 1,015 1,590 1,390 
			  PT 350 500 405 415 750 
			 2003-04 FT 1,060 1,790 1,045 1,645 1,480 
			  PT 445 875 400 730 770 
			 2004-05 FT 1,000 1,840 1,050 1,680 1,450 
			  PT 500 675 425 630 730 
			 2005-06 FT 1,055 1,980 1,130 1,750 1,565 
			  PT 460 640 480 630 850 
			 2006-07 FT 995 1,845 1,030 1,630 1,505 
			  PT 355 490 440 495 705 
			 2007-08 FT 995 1,845 1,030 1,715 1,305 
			  PT 410 435 390 455 550 
			 (1) The table does not include entrants where local authority of the student cannot be established due to missing or invalid home postcodes. (2) Figures exclude the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.  Note: Figures are based on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and have been rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) 
		
	
	There are a number of differences between the data gathered by UCAS on applicants and those gathered by HESA on entrants. Not all students apply through the UCAS system as they may apply directly to the institutions. UCAS does not cover part-time students, so these have been shown separately in table 2.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what margin of flexibility on UK and EU undergraduate student numbers has been offered by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: The HEFCE funding model for teaching is constructed in broad terms and generally allows institutions to vary the number and mix of students within a tolerance band of plus/minus 5 per cent, of a standard reference point. Other specific controls (minimum Full Time Equivalents (FTE)) required to satisfy the funding agreement) apply if institutions are awarded funded growth. Institutions are expected to deliver growth for which they have received additional funding, but are given two academic years to deliver a minimum target FTE student number. institutions can vire between full-time, part-time, undergraduate and postgraduate provision.
	In addition, during the period 1997-98 through to 2001-02 another control on full-time undergraduate home and EU students applied known as the Maximum aggregate Student Number (MaSN). It related specifically to full-time undergraduate and PGCE home and EU students. Institutions were set a maximum number of students with margin which if exceeded resulted in holdback of grant.
	Since 2001-02 institutions have been allowed to vary their mix of students so long as they remain within their contract range which is generally plus/minus 5 per cent. but may be wider for some institutions that are in the process of migrating towards it.

Innovation Fund

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when the 150 million Innovation Fund referred to in paragraph 35 of Building Britain's Future, column 7654, will be established; and how manufacturing firms will be able to obtain funding from that Fund.

David Lammy: The UK innovation investment fund will operate on a fund of funds structure which means it will not invest directly in companies, but rather invest in a small number of specialist technology funds that have the expertise and track record to invest directly in companies, in sectors such as ICT, life sciences, low carbon and advanced manufacturing. A fund of funds manager will be appointed during 2009 to manage the fund and make investments in underlying technology funds with the expertise and track record to invest directly in technology businesses.

Insolvency

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies went into administration in  (a) Hemel Hempstead constituency,  (b) Dacorum,  (c) Hertfordshire and  (d) England in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: Official statistics covering administrations and other corporate insolvency procedures are not currently available at sub-national level, or for England separately. Table 1 shows the number of administrations in England and Wales as a whole for the period requested.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Administrationsnumber of new cases 
			 2004 1,602 
			 2005 2,261 
			 2006(1) 3,560 
			 2007 2,512 
			 2008(2) 4,822 
			 (1) The figure for 2006 includes 844 separate, limited companies created and managed by Safe Solutions Accountancy Limited for which Grant Thornton was appointed administrator. (2) The figure for 2008 includes 729 separate managed service companies for which BDO Stoy Hayward was appointed administrator.

Insolvency Service: Consultants

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Insolvency Service spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: The Insolvency Service Executive agency of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills spent the following amounts on external consultants in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   Amount (000) 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 38 
			 2006-07 0 
			 2007-08 34 
			 2008-09 210

Insolvency Service: Travel

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Insolvency Service spent on taxis in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of The Department for Business Innovation and Skills is unable to extract details of taxi expenses. The service's policy is that public transport must be used in preference to taxis on all possible occasions. Sample data for one calendar month has been extracted which shows taxi costs of 1,510. This would correspond to annual taxi fares of approx 20,000.

Insolvency Service: Travel

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Insolvency Service spent on  (a) flights,  (b) hotel accommodation,  (c) rail travel and  (d) other travel and overnight subsistence expenses in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: The insolvency service executive agency of The Department for Business Innovation and Skills spent the following amounts on  (a) flights,  (b) hotel accommodation,  (c) rail travel and  (d) other travel and overnight subsistence expenses in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   Hotels  Air  Train  Staff subsistence  Total 
			 2004-05 409,579 9,827 425,664 481,516 1,326,585 
			 2005-06 531,962 15,795 568,138 503,666 1,619,561 
			 2006-07 745,162 95,277 871,712 633,616 2,345,766 
			 2007-08 856,095 67,237 1,145,946 720,298 2,789,577 
			 2008-09 1,173,460 109,993 1,319,879 747,372 3,350,703

Insolvency Service: Travel

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Insolvency Service spent on first class  (a) rail and  (b) air travel in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills spent the following amounts on rail travel in each of the last five years. Details of the class of travel used is only available from July 2006 when the Service began using Trainline.com as it's preferred supplier of rail bookings. Please see the following table:
	
		
			   First class  Standard class  Total 
			 2004-05 n/a n/a 425,664 
			 2005-06 n/a n/a 568,138 
			 2006-07 174,618 697,094 871,712 
			 2007-08 423,535 722,411 1,145,946 
			 2008-09 600,265 719,614 1,319,879 
		
	
	The Insolvency Service Executive Agency of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills is unable to report the amount spent on first class air travel because it does not have details of individual flights. Air travel costs for the last five financial years were:
	
		
			   Air 
			 2004-05 9,827.00 
			 2005-06 15,795.00 
			 2006-07 95,277.00 
			 2007-08 67,327.27 
			 2008-09 109,993.00

It's Your Call Road Show

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the budget is of the It's Your Call road show for 2009-10; and which locations will be visited by the roadshow in 2009-10.

Patrick McFadden: The National Minimum Wage outreach campaign for 2009-10 will be run in conjunction with the Government's vulnerable workers campaign whose objective is to promote awareness of basic employment rights and the new Pay and Work Rights Helpline to vulnerable workers. The locations that will be visited during the campaign have not yet been finalised. The overall budget for the vulnerable workers campaign this year is 3 million, of which 215,000 is the expected cost for the outreach elements.

Members: Correspondence

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Secretary of State plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Beaconsfield  (a) of 12 February 2009, on behalf of his constituent Mr. Wilkinson,  (b) of 24 February 2009, on behalf of his constituent Mr. Booroff and  (c) of 12 March 2009 on behalf of his constituent Mr. Woods.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 20 July 2009
	I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to his correspondence. My noble Friend, the Parliamentary under secretary of State for Economic Competitiveness, Small business and Enterprise, will respond shortly to the three outstanding letters.

Members: Correspondence

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State plans to respond to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 17 March 2009 on business difficulties.

Patrick McFadden: I apologise to the hon. Member for the unacceptable delay in responding, he will receive a response shortly.

Members: Correspondence

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 6 February 2009 concerning problems with a constituent's business.

Patrick McFadden: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding. He will receive a reply shortly.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 61W, on Members: correspondence, when the relevant Minister plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 27 February 2009 on his constituent, Mr Paul Cook of Chelmsford; and what the reason is for the time taken to reply.

Patrick McFadden: I apologise to the hon. Member for the continuing delay in responding. My Noble Friend, the Minister for Economic Competitiveness, Small Business and Enterprise, will respond shortly.

Money Lenders

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many calls the national illegal money lender helpline has received from each region in each month since it was established;
	(2)  how many calls made to the national illegal money lender helpline have  (a) resulted and  (b) assisted in the arrest or prosecution of an illegal money lender in each month since its establishment;
	(3)  how many staff have been employed on the national illegal money lender helpline in each month since its establishment;
	(4)  how much funding has been  (a) allocated and  (b) spent on (i) establishing the national illegal money lender helpline and (ii) operating the helpline in each month since its establishment.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 13 July 2009
	Since 1 March 2009 to 30 June to 2009 the total number of calls received for all regions via the national 0300 555 2222 hotline was 516.
	The total numbers of calls received by some of the IML teams has been filtered (f) to indicate the number of calls received that gave actionable intelligence. However, some of the teams have maintained regional numbers to ensure a golden thread ensues for previous poster and media campaigns:
	
		
			   March  April  May  June  July 
			 South West 37 7 4 20 4 
			 East Midlands 72 26 29 33 9 
			 London 33 52 57 58 14 
			 North East (f) 2 3 4 4 3 
			 Wales (f) 6 3 0 3 2 
			 Scotland (f) 4 2 2 1 0 
			 Central England (f)(1) 22 11 12 23 3 
			 (1) South East, North West, East of England, Yorkshire and Humberside 
		
	
	Of the 519 calls received by the national hotline number the following assisted in the arrest or proceeding to the prosecutions of illegal money lenders.
	
		
			   Detail 
			 North East Three arrests have followed from calls received on the national hotline number. None have yet proceeded to a prosecution. 
			 South West No calls have yet resulted in arrest or prosecution, all are still ongoing investigations. 
			 East Midlands 10 arrests have followed from calls to the hotline; none have yet proceeded to a prosecution. 
			 London One arrest, 16 calls have initiated ongoing investigations not yet proceeded to prosecution. One call led to re-arrest of an illegal lender on bail. Three matters were linked to ongoing organised crime. SOCA, Anti-Terrorism Unit, and the Metropolitan Police Service engaged as a result. 
			 Wales Eight arrests have been made, all are ongoing cases. None have been prosecuted in such a short space of time. 
			 Scotland Three of the calls have initiated investigations. Any investigations which have been instigated as a result of these calls are still ongoing. 
			 Central England(1) 12 arrests, charges have been laid against three and inquiries are on going with the others. 
			 (1) South East, North West, East of England, Yorkshire and Humberside 
		
	
	All calls are answered by enforcement officers already employed within the teams. No additional staff were employed to operate the national hotline number.
	The national number is not a helpline but a hotline for victims to report a loan shark in confidence. The single national number was established to make it simpler to report loan sharking and to create greater connectivity between regions and increased cross-border operations. Therefore the only direct costs resulting from setting up and running the national hotline are
	(a) the cost of installing the hotline number = 200; and
	(b) the quarterly rental cost for the hotline number = 10.
	The easily recognisable number itself was free. The geographical set-up was free.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value is of loans underwritten by the Automotive Assistance Programme which have been drawn down by businesses.

Ian Lucas: Projects in the pipeline seeking loan guarantees are worth at least 2.4 billion with total Government support sought of around 1.45 billion.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2009,  Official Report, column 989W, on motor vehicles: manufacturing industries, what estimate he has made of the maximum number of car purchases that can be funded by the 300 million allocated by his Department to the car scrappage scheme.

Ian Lucas: Under the scrappage scheme, the Government provide 1,000 per vehicle. Therefore, the maximum number of vehicles that could be funded would be 300,000. However, the total number will be slightly less than that since a small portion of the 300 million will be used to cover monitoring and administration costs.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2009,  Official Report, column 989W, on motor vehicles: manufacturing industries, how many of the 94,000 orders for new vehicles qualify for Government funding under the car scrappage scheme.

Ian Lucas: The figure for total orders under the scrappage scheme are adjusted each week to take account of any errors or cancellations in previous orders. Therefore, we anticipate that, subject to any future minor adjustments of this sort, all the orders would qualify for Government funding. Over 121,700 orders for new vehicles have now been taken.

National Vocational Qualifications: Construction

Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many people on Government-funded National Vocational Qualification courses in the construction industry left the course early in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many people applied for Government-funded National Vocational Qualification courses in the construction industry in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number of LSC-funded enrolments on NVQs within the construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area, from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Information is not available on a consistent basis prior to 2005-06.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of NVQ enrolments within the construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area, 2005/06 to 2007/08 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Further education 22,400 22,200 23,500 
			 Work-based learning 70,600 67,600 65,700 
			 Train to Gain 4,100 32,400 52,700 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Figures include FE and WBL enrolments and TTG starts. 3. TTG began in April 2006, hence 2005-06 contains only part-year figures.   Source: Individualised Learner Record. 
		
	
	Table 2 shows the number of people who withdrew from an NVQ in the construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area, from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Information is not available on a consistent basis prior to 2005-06.
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of NVQ Enrolments within the construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area which were withdrawn from, 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Further education 2,200 1,800 1,700 
			 Work-based learning 10,500 9,100 9,500 
			 Train to Gain 200 600 1,800 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. These figures do not include a small number of learners who have temporarily withdrawn due to an agreed break in learning. 3. These figures do not include learners who have transferred to a new learning aim with the same provider.  Source: Individualised Learner Record.

Non-Domestic Rates

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) households and  (b) businesses in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point which will be liable for payment of the levy proposed in the Digital Britain White Paper.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has made no specific estimate of the number of  (a) households and  (b) businesses in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point liable for payment of the proposed levy proposed in the Digital Britain White Paper.
	Ofcom estimates that there are 612,037 fixed lines in Essex. As the analysis was not carried out at boundary level, rather constituency and county level, Ofcom do not have estimates for Castle Point. We have recognised that those on the lowest incomes might have difficulty paying the fixed line levy and that is why we have confirmed that those on social telephony schemes will be exempt. The social telephony schemes are available to those on income support, income-based Job Seeker's Allowance Employment Support Allowance (income rated) or Guaranteed Pensions Credit and should be an accurate indication of ability to pay.

North West Regional Development Agency: Finance

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to which projects in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency the North West Regional Development Agency has provided funding in the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Name  Description  Total NWDA investment () 
			 SFI Grants to Local Businesses SFI grants to local businesses 587,036 
			 Trimpell Tip Middleton Wood Ph1 Environmental improvement works to reclaim a former industrial site and tip at Trimpell Tip Middleton Wood 580,368 
			 Midland Hotel, Morecambe Redevelopment of Midland Hotel, Morecambe 4,070,523 
			 The Whoop Hall, Burrow, Kirkby Lonsdale Refurbishment of redundant rooms to create four letting bedrooms 6,221 
			 Clawthorpe Hall, Carnforth Conversion of part of Clawthorpe Hall to create offices and workspace units 63,300 
			 Carnforth Market Town: Winter Promotion Scheme Partnership launch event and retail promotion of Carnforth retail centre 42,667 
			 St. Martins College Arts Campus: Feasibility study Feasibility of development of a new campus, located in Morecambe, which will specialise in the Arts 28,964 
			 Lancaster Vision Strengthening Morecambe's West End Retail Core A number of public realm improvements to Yorkshire Street, Heysham Road, West Street and Regent Road, Morecambe 20,000 
			 Winter Gardens Morecambe Feasibility work only to allow for HLF bid 15,000 
			 Winter Gardens, Morecambe Detailed Planning StageVarious technical reports to support funding applications 298,381 
			 Seaside Square: site clearance Site clearance and improvements to land adjacent to the Midland hotel 226,253

Pleural Plaques

Michael Clapham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate his Department made of its potential liabilities arising from compensation claims from those with pleural plaques in advance of the House of Lords judgment on pleural plaques compensation of October 2007.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 6 July 2009
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (then the Department for Trade and Industry) had estimated potential liabilities of 22.5 million in relation to British Shipbuilder-related cases of plural plaques. This was shown in the Department's Resource Accounts 2006-07 as a contingent liability.

Postal Services

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the quality of postal services in remote rural areas compared to those in towns and cities.

Patrick McFadden: Postcomm, the industry regulator, monitors Royal Mail's quality of service performance in all postcode areas on a quarterly basis. Postcomm also commissions an annual survey of residential and SME customers, which involves asking questions of customers in rural and deep rural areas about their use of mail services and how satisfied they are as senders and recipients of mail.
	In the latest 2008 survey, all respondents were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with Royal Mail on a scale of one to 10 (10 representing extremely satisfied and one extremely dissatisfied). The total sample gave Royal Mail a mean score of 8.02. A breakdown of the sample showed that deep rural customers gave Royal Mail a higher
	mean score of 8.47.
	More information can be found on Postcomm's website:
	http://www.psc.gov.uk/about-the-mail-market/customer-needs-survey.html

Publicity: Finance

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills spent on management of its corporate identity.

Patrick McFadden: In 2007-08 the Department spent an estimated 38,759.49 on managing its corporate identity. This includes development of the logo, branding guidelines, signposts, display panels and stationery.

Redundancy

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many employers in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point sought advice on redundancy issues from his Department in (i) the latest period for which figures are available and (ii) the same period 12 months previously.

Patrick McFadden: Employers are able to seek advice on redundancy issues from my Department via the Business Link helpline and the website, the ACAS helpline and the Redundancy payments Service helpline. The available figures are set out in the following table, except for calls to the Redundancy Payments Service helpline, which are not categorised or recorded by group:
	
		
			  ACAS helpline  May 2008( 1)  May 2009 
			 Percentage of total calls from employers that were about redundancy issues. 19.9 27.2 
			 Business Link Helpline (2) (2) 
			 Business Link April 2008 April 2009 
			 Guidance (3)28.050 (3)68,740 
			 Redundancy tool 2,487 4,004 
			 Redundancy calculator (2) 39,474 
			 1 Relates to two weeks only, due to the introduction of new technology 2 No data available 3 Visits  Note: Project began in Sept 2008

Royal Mail

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the Electoral Commission's publication of registered donations to political parties in the first quarter of 2009, for what reason Royal Mail donated 3,000 to the Labour Party.

Patrick McFadden: This is a matter for Royal Mail but I understand from the company that as a part of its commercial activities, it has, over the last 12 months, made donations to all the major political parties in the form of sponsorship of receptions at their Scottish conferences.

Science and Technology Facilities Council: Finance

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons the Science and Technology Facilities Council is  (a) experiencing a budgetary shortfall and  (b) is planning a programme of funding delays and reductions for 2009-10.

David Lammy: holding answer 12 June 2009
	 The science and technology facilities council continually adjusts and reprioritises its funding, for example to cover the adverse effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the level of its subscriptions to international organisations.
	The STFC recently carried out such an exercise; its press notice of 25 June sets out the outcome of its most recent process of prioritisation.

Scientists: International Cooperation

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Government plan to take to use UK scientific expertise in support of the recommendation for a co-ordinated approach in the field of global weapons of mass destruction knowledge, proliferation and scientist engagements in the L'Aquila declaration of 9 July 2009.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government contributed to and fully endorse the announcement made by the G8 at L'Aquila. The UK's commitment to the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (launched at the G8 summit at Kananaskis in June 2002) is delivered by the UK's Global Threat Reduction Programme (GTRP). The FCO hold the overall policy lead for GTRP, but the nuclear and radiological components of the programme are managed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). DECC's portfolio of GTRP programmes includes the Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership, which provided assistance to address the knowledge proliferation risks posed by unemployed or under-employed nuclear weapons scientists and technicians in closed nuclear cities in Russia and various Institutes of Nuclear Physics in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia and Belarus.
	This UK collaborative programme draws on UK scientific and technical expertise in both the public and private sector and provides:
	finance for commercial civil sector projects;
	training for personnel including study tours to share the UK's experiences of nuclear industry, defence industry downsizing and restructuring of Government funded laboratories to commercialise research and development and create spin-out businesses;
	assistance in the establishment of commercial businesses with Russian etc. and Western foreign enterprises;
	support to business development agencies and commercialisation units for sustainable economic development in the Closed Nuclear Cities and various Institutes of Nuclear Physics.
	The Ministry of Defence, who manage the chemical and biological parts of GTRP, has a small but developing programme of redirection and engagement in the biological sciences in Former Soviet Union countries and elsewhere which engages world class UK scientific expertise from the Health Protection Agency, Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Food and Environment Research Agency and other such bodies.
	Further details of these programmes are contained in the Global Threat Reduction Programme Annual Report which is available in the House Library and available from:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk./energy/non-proliferation/global-threat-reduction/index.html

Small Businesses: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what support his Department has offered to small businesses in  (a) Tamworth constituency and  (b) Staffordshire during the economic downturn.

Rosie Winterton: The Government are committed to ensuring that a comprehensive range of assistance is available to businesses affected by the economic downturn. The support available includes a package of schemes to address the cash flow, credit and capital needs of small businesses under the Real Help for Business campaign. This includes government guaranteed lending under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme as well as loan funding from the Advantage Transition Bridge Fund which is administered by Advantage West Midlands (AWM). AWM also administers other schemes providing financial support for eligible firms include the Grant for Business Investment and the Grant for Research and Development.
	Details of funding provided to businesses in Tamworth and Staffordshire under national initiatives are not available. Financial support provided to businesses in Staffordshire by AWM over the last six months is as follows:
	(i) Eight businesses have received offers of Grant for Business Investment totalling 564,671;
	(ii) Three businesses have received offers of Grant for Research and Development totalling 327,880;
	(iii) 11 businesses have received loans from Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) totalling 295,000;
	(iv) Six businesses have received offers of loans totalling 510,000 from the Advantage Transition Bridge Fund;
	(v) Four businesses have received investment from the region's venture capital funds totalling 727,060.
	These figures include 75,000 CDFI funding for three businesses in Tamworth and 100,000 from venture capital funds for one business in the town.
	Companies can also advice including free business Health Checks from Business Link. The Health Check looks at the whole of a business operation including strategy, markets, productivity, skills and finance.
	In the year to March 2009 Business Link West Midlands provided the following support to businesses in Tamworth:
	(i) In-depth reviews with 121 businesses and skills reviews with a further 58 businesses
	(ii) Information support to 825 businesses
	The support provided to businesses in the rest of Staffordshire in the year to March 2009 was as follows:
	(i) In-depth business reviews with 1,753 businesses and skills reviews with a further 682 businesses.
	(ii) information support to 9,167 businesses
	Business Link also provided information about starting a business to 319 individuals in Tamworth and 3,035 in the rest of Staffordshire, helping 31 businesses in Tamworth and 396 in the rest of the county to start during the year.
	Business Link has also run business clinics and credit crunch and other events throughout Staffordshire. UKTI assistance with exporting is provided by through the Staffordshire International Trade Team based at the North Staffordshire Chamber.

Social Work: Higher Education

Michael Gove: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) applicants and  (b) successful applicants there were for General Social Care Council-accredited social work degree courses in each of the last 10 years.

David Lammy: Prior to 2005, parallel to the main UCAS system administering admissions for social work degrees, UCAS operated the Social Work Admissions System (SWAS), for entry on to diplomas in social work. Entry to diplomas in social work was last available for 2004 entrythese were replaced by three-year social work degree courses or two-year postgraduate diplomas. The admissions for the degrees and some postgraduate masters diplomas were absorbed into mainstream UCAS for 2005 entry. The figures in the table include applicants to full-time first degree courses only.
	From 2002 entry, UCAS switched from using the Standard Academic Classification of Subjects (SCAS) to the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS).
	The information is in the following table:
	
		
			  UK domiciled applicants and accepted applicants to full-time first degree social work courses in UK institutions 1998-2008 
			  Academic year of entry  Applicants  Accepts 
			 1998 5,852 1,782 
			 1999 5,901 2,045 
			 2000 5,938 2,180 
			 2001 5,787 2,343 
			 2002 5,766 2,458 
			  ( Change in coding of subjects )   
			 2003 7,443 3,184 
			 2004 11,768 5,036 
			  ( SWAS merged with main UCAS system )   
			 2005 15,215 5,820 
			 2006 15,720 6,152 
			 2007 17,025 6,821 
			 2008 16,828 7,308 
		
	
	Applicants data refers to applicants making at least one choice to a full-time first degree course in social work (applicants applying solely to HNC/Ds, foundation degrees or postgraduate masters diplomas are not counted).
	Accepted applicant data refers to applicants being accepted to a full-time first degree course in social work.

Spaceflight

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the merits of establishing a space agency for the UK; and what estimate he has made of  (a) the likely cost and  (b) the number of staff that would be required for the functioning of such an agency.

David Lammy: holding answer 8 June 2009
	 The Minister for Science and Innovation has discussed with the BNSC partnership to determine whether a formal assessment should be undertaken on the structure of BNSC. As a result, a public consultation on how UK civil space activities can best be funded and managed will be launched formally on 22 July to take on board the wider views of stakeholders and the general public.

Strategic Investment Fund

Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria his Department will use to determine what spending under the Strategic Investment Fund will qualify as low-carbon spending.

Patrick McFadden: The first investments from the 250 million of funding allocated for low carbon economic development were set out in the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy on 15 July. All funding will be allocated, examining the costs and benefits, consistent with Green Book criteria.

Telephones

Colin Breed: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to combat the practice of moving a telephone subscriber's account from one service provider to another without the subscriber's authorisation; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Responsibility for mis-selling lies with the Office of Communications (Ofcom) which is committed to preventing problems related to mis-selling and slamming (where a telephone service is switched to another provider without the customer's knowledge or consent), and has put various safeguards in place to protect consumers from such risks.
	In May 2005 Ofcom introduced new rules to combat slamming, which require all providers of fixed-line telecommunications services to residential consumers and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to establish, and comply with, a sales and marketing code of practice consistent with Ofcom guidelines. Compliance with the codes is enforceable by Ofcom under the Communications Act and they can require telecoms providers to remedy the consequences of any breach and can ultimately levy a financial penalty (up to 10 per cent. of relevant turnover) if they do not do so.
	In June 2006 Ofcom imposed the maximum financial penalty of 10 per cent. of relevant turnover on Just Telecomms UK Ltd (trading as Lo-Rate Telecom). This decision reflected the serious nature of the contravention. In addition to imposing a financial penalty, Ofcom is also requiring this company to:
	pay refunds to affected customers where appropriate;
	provide weekly reports to Ofcom on customer contact and refunds paid; and
	fully co-operate with, and comply with the adjudications of, the Telecommunications Ombudsman scheme (Otelo).
	Ofcom also monitors complaints received through its Advisory Team concerning instances of slamming and they will take action against providers who persistently act contrary to the guidelines.
	There are a number of safeguards built into the switching process. Customers must be sent a 'notification of transfer' letter informing them that the switch is happening. There is a 10 day switchover period during which time the customer is able to stop the order going ahead. Typically the customer will receive two letters during the switchover periodone from both their losing and gaining telephone companies.
	Ofcom is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen the existing safeguards in this area in order to ensure better protection for consumers and to enable it to take more effective action against providers that break the rules. The consultation closed at the end of May and Ofcom is now reviewing the responses, and expects to publish a statement later in the year.

Train to Gain Programme: Expenditure

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent under the Train to Gain scheme in each year of its operation in each sector of the economy as classified by Sector Skills Council.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 3 July 2009
	Train to Gain is a service for employers which puts buying power and information in their hands, giving them better access to a wider range of opportunities for improving the skills of their employees and the productivity of their business. Evaluations show that a wide spread of industry sectors are accessing the service.
	The expenditure for Train to Gain is an operational matter for the national Learning and Skills Council (LSC). They do not generally break down information on Train to Gain spend by Sector Skill Council (SSC). However, they are able to provide a breakdown of learner starts by sector and actual costs where possible. I have asked Geoff Russell, the LSC's chief executive, to write to the hon. Member with the relevant information. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Training: Disabled

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of the budget of the Learning and Skills Council for 2009-10 will be used in the training of people with a learning disability.

Kevin Brennan: As announced in the LSC grant letter, Government investment strategy and LSC statement of priorities (published 18 November 2008), investment in participation for learners aged 16 and over is planned to increase to over 10 billion in 2009-10.
	As set out in the same publication, the LSC are committed to continuing development of the provision and support available to learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This will help us realise the vision set out in learning for living and work strategy that people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities have access to, and experience of, post-16 learning that is equal to that experienced by their peers without learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
	When accessing mainstream LSC-funded further education courses, learners have the option to self-declare as having a learning difficulty and/or disability. It is therefore possible to provide historical, but not projected, spend.
	Total spend on self-declared learners was 874 million in 2006-07, and 923 million in 2007-08. This relates to funding for the programme costs of provision delivered through further education colleges. It does not include funding for provision delivered in the workplace, as data are not reported in this way.
	In addition, there is a separate budget for specialist LLDD provision. This funds learners with LDD learning in independent, specialist providers. For 2009-10, the budget for this provision will be 236 million.

Unemployment

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what percentage of people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training in each  (a) region and  (b) local authority area in the first quarter of (i) 2001 and (ii) 2009.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 14 July 2009
	Table 1 shows the number and percentage of people aged(1) 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training by region. These estimates are from the Quarter 1 Labour Force Survey (LFS).
	Table 2 shows the number and percentage of people aged1 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training by Local Education Authority (LEA). The estimates for 2008 are from the Annual Population Survey (APS) which covers the period January to December, and the estimates for 2001 are from the Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey (ALALFS), the predecessor to the APS, which covers the period March 2001 to February 2002. Due to the small populations of local authorities, the LFS does not have large enough sample sizes to produce reliable estimates for geographies such as LEAs. Therefore we have used the latest APS (2008) which has a larger sample size, and have provided estimates for LEAs as estimates are too unreliable for smaller geographies. Please note that even for regions, sample sizes can be small and these estimates are subject to sampling variability. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand, and typical confidence intervals for these percentages are between 2 and 3 percentage points for regional estimates, and between 3 and 9 percentage points for local authority estimates.
	
		
			  Table 1: People aged¹ 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training by region 
			   Q1 2001  Q1 2009 
			   NEET (number)  Percentage  NEET (number)  Percentage 
			 England 671,000 13 935,000 16 
			 North East 56,000 20 57,000 18 
			 North West 113,000 16 156,000 18 
			 Yorks and Humber 80,000 15 107,000 16 
			 East Midlands 57,000 13 69,000 13 
			 West Midlands 81,000 15 126,000 20 
			 East of England 61,000 12 83,000 14 
			 London 101,000 12 127,000 14 
			 South East 76,000 10 130,000 14 
			 South West 45,000 10 78,000 14 
			 (1) Age used is the respondents academic age, which is their age at the preceding 31 August.  Base: 16 to 24 year olds, England  Source: Quarter 1 Labour Force Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: People aged¹ 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training by local education authority 
			   Number  Percentage 
			   2001( 2)  2008  2001²  2008 
			 England 704,000 857,000 14 14 
			 Barking and Dagenham 5,000 4,000 21 20 
			 Barnet 3,000 7,000 9 19 
			 Barnsley 5,000 5,000 21 19 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 2,000 2,000 7 9 
			 Bedfordshire 4,000 4,000 12 8 
			 Bexley 3,000 3,000 13 14 
			 Birmingham 25,000 29,000 22 20 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 4,000 2,000 20 16 
			 Blackpool 3,000 2,000 16 12 
			 Bolton 4,000 4,000 12 12 
			 Bournemouth 2,000 3,000 9 14 
			 Bracknell Forest 2,000 2,000 14 13 
			 Bradford 13,000 9,000 23 14 
			 Brent 5,000 4,000 11 14 
			 Brighton and Hove 3,000 4,000 9 12 
			 Bristol 4,000 9,000 8 14 
			 Bromley 3,000 5,000 13 16 
			 Buckinghamshire 4,000 5,000 8 11 
			 Bury 3,000 3,000 15 14 
			 Calderdale 3,000 4,000 18 18 
			 Cambridgeshire 8,000 8,000 14 11 
			 Camden 3,000 3,000 15 10 
			 Cheshire 10,000 9,000 15 13 
			 Cornwall 6,000 5,000 13 10 
			 Coventry 4,000 9,000 10 19 
			 Croydon 5,000 6,000 14 16 
			 Cumbria 6,000 2,000 12 5 
			 Darlington 2,000 1,000 16 12 
			 Derby 4,000 4,000 15 13 
			 Derbyshire 11,000 10,000 15 14 
			 Devon 6,000 5,000 12 6 
			 Doncaster 6,000 8,000 19 22 
			 Dorset 4,000 3,000 11 8 
			 Dudley 7,000 8,000 18 19 
			 Durham 8,000 11,000 17 17 
			 Ealing 5,000 5,000 15 13 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,000 5,000 11 14 
			 East Sussex 4,000 8,000 10 17 
			 Enfield 3,000 3,000 11 12 
			 Essex 13,000 21,000 11 14 
			 Gateshead 3,000 4,000 16 21 
			 Gloucestershire 6,000 6,000 10 10 
			 Greenwich 4,000 4,000 15 16 
			 Hackney 8,000 5,000 29 20 
			 Halton 4,000 3,000 27 23 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2,000 2,000 10 12 
			 Hampshire 9,000 16,000 8 11 
			 Haringey 6,000 6,000 19 20 
			 Harrow 2,000 3,000 9 13 
			 Hartlepool 3,000 3,000 26 27 
			 Havering 3,000 2,000 12 7 
			 Herefordshire 1,000 2,000 8 12 
			 Hertfordshire 9,000 14,000 9 13 
			 Hillingdon 3,000 4,000 11 15 
			 Hounslow 3,000 6,000 10 22 
			 Isle of Wight 2,000 2,000 17 18 
			 Islington 5,000 3,000 20 14 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 2,000 3,000 13 16 
			 Kent 17,000 25,000 14 17 
			 Kingston upon Hull 8,000 8,000 23 18 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1,000 2,000 7 11 
			 Kirklees 7,000 8,000 15 19 
			 Knowsley 4,000 5,000 25 20 
			 Lambeth 3,000 4,000 8 12 
			 Lancashire 14,000 21,000 13 14 
			 Leeds 9,000 20,000 10 15 
			 Leicester 5,000 9,000 13 18 
			 Leicestershire 5,000 9,000 8 14 
			 Lewisham 5,000 5,000 16 19 
			 Lincolnshire 7,000 10,000 12 13 
			 Liverpool 9,000 10,000 17 15 
			 Luton 4,000 4,000 14 16 
			 Manchester 11,000 13,000 17 16 
			 Medway 4,000 5,000 14 18 
			 Merton 1,000 3,000 7 15 
			 Middlesbrough 3,000 5,000 21 24 
			 Milton Keynes 2,000 2,000 8 9 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 5,000 6,000 16 10 
			 Newham 9,000 4,000 22 12 
			 Norfolk 9,000 15,000 13 17 
			 North East Lincolnshire 4,000 4,000 21 21 
			 North Lincolnshire 2,000 2,000 15 15 
			 North Somerset 2,000 2,000 10 7 
			 North Tyneside 5,000 4,000 22 20 
			 North Yorkshire 4,000 7,000 8 12 
			 Northamptonshire 7,000 12,000 11 14 
			 Northumberland 5,000 4,000 17 11 
			 Nottingham 6,000 7,000 16 12 
			 Nottinghamshire 10,000 12,000 14 14 
			 Oldham 5,000 7,000 21 25 
			 Oxfordshire 6,000 6,000 10 8 
			 Peterborough 3,000 4,000 16 20 
			 Plymouth 5,000 3,000 19 8 
			 Poole 2,000 2,000 12 12 
			 Portsmouth 3,000 3,000 10 8 
			 Reading 3,000 2,000 13 11 
			 Redbridge 5,000 4,000 18 14 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 4,000 4,000 25 27 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,000 2,000 10 12 
			 Rochdale 4,000 3,000 18 14 
			 Rotherham 5,000 7,000 18 24 
			 Rutland 1,000 * 14 9 
			 Salford 7,000 6,000 22 22 
			 Sandwell 5,000 9,000 17 26 
			 Sefton 4,000 7,000 14 19 
			 Sheffield 8,000 13,000 14 16 
			 Shropshire 3,000 3,000 11 10 
			 Slough 3,000 2,000 12 14 
			 Solihull 3,000 4,000 11 18 
			 Somerset 3,000 7,000 6 13 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,000 2,000 6 7 
			 South Tyneside 4,000 3,000 20 16 
			 Southampton 3,000 4,000 9 10 
			 Southend on Sea 3,000 3,000 19 20 
			 Southwark 5,000 6,000 19 16 
			 St Helens 2,000 4,000 12 21 
			 Staffordshire 6,000 11,000 8 11 
			 Stockport 2,000 4,000 10 13 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 2,000 4,000 13 18 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 5,000 5,000 15 19 
			 Suffolk 10,000 11,000 16 16 
			 Sunderland 7,000 6,000 21 15 
			 Surrey 9,000 8,000 9 8 
			 Sutton 2,000 1,000 8 8 
			 Swindon 2,000 3,000 9 16 
			 Tameside 3,000 6,000 14 23 
			 Telford and Wrekin 2,000 3,000 14 15 
			 Thurrock 2,000 3,000 12 17 
			 Torbay 2,000 2,000 17 12 
			 Tower Hamlets 9,000 7,000 22 22 
			 Trafford 3,000 3,000 11 13 
			 Wakefield 5,000 7,000 15 16 
			 Walsall 5,000 5,000 17 17 
			 Waltham Forest 5,000 6,000 18 18 
			 Wandsworth 4,000 3,000 13 12 
			 Warrington 3,000 3,000 17 14 
			 Warwickshire 5,000 6,000 11 13 
			 West Berkshire 1,000 1,000 7 9 
			 West Sussex 4,000 8,000 6 11 
			 Westminster 4,000 5,000 13 15 
			 Wigan 6,000 5,000 18 13 
			 Wiltshire 2,000 7,000 4 15 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 1,000 1,000 11 10 
			 Wirral 4,000 6,000 13 20 
			 Wokingham 2,000 2,000 11 11 
			 Wolverhampton 6,000 9,000 20 29 
			 Worcestershire 4,000 5,000 10 8 
			 York 2,000 1,000 9 4 
			 (1) Age used is the respondents academic age, which is their age at the preceding 31 August. 2 2001 data is from the Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey, the predecessor to the APS. Base:  16 to 24 year olds, England  Source: 2001 Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey and 2008 Annual Population Survey.

Union Modernisation Fund

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Chichester of 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 658W, on the Union Modernisation Fund: audit, which accountancy firms have undertaken audits on union modernisation fund profits since the date of that Answer;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of each evaluation report of the Union Modernisation Fund produced by his Department in conjunction with Leeds University Business School;
	(3)  for what reason no minutes are kept of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board meetings;
	(4)  what declaration of past and present union activity and membership each current member of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board has made;
	(5)  what related party transactions have been declared by each of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board members;
	(6)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the protocol adopted by the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board on conflicts of interest.

Patrick McFadden: I shall take the answers together and in order.
	Since my response to the hon. Member for Chichester on 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 658W, the additional companies listed have undertaken reports to confirm claims and expenditure from the Union Modernisation Fund.
	Naylor Wintersgill
	Knox Cropper
	H K Jenkins FCCA
	BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
	Nabarro
	Brooks Green
	UHY Hacker Young
	RSM Bentley Jennison
	The independent accountants' reports have confirmed that none of the project costs claimed have been calculated to include any profit.
	A copy of the final evaluation report of the first round of the Union Modernisation Fund produced by my Department in conjunction with Leeds University Business School will be published shortly and placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies of the two interim evaluations of the first round are available on the Department's website, and we will ensure that they are available from the Libraries.
	An action record of decisions is taken at Supervisory Board meetings in line with the Board's terms of reference and these are communicated to Ministers by the Board's secretariat and to the applicants of all bids.
	Members of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board are selected by open competition in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, with support from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. As part of that appointment process, applicants must declare relevant experience and give details of potential conflicts of interest. All appointment letters set out the Nolan Principles of Public Life, which are the foundations of the public appointments process and provide guidance on the standards expected of public appointees. All members declare their political activities at the time of application to the Board. Board members are reminded of the need to observe the rules on conflict of interest when assessing bids.

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what account has been taken of the merits of maintaining an international centre of nuclear expertise in the UK in deciding on the future of UKAEA Ltd.

Rosie Winterton: The skills and nuclear expertise included within UKAEA Ltd. will be enhanced by private sector ownership. UKAEA Ltd. is one of several service providers of nuclear decommissioning services to the NDA. The NDA contracts with a broad range of UK and international businesses to manage decommissioning more effectively at its various sites. Contracts are awarded by the NDA by way of a competitive process.

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the reasons are for his decision to sell a majority stake in UKAEA Ltd; and what criteria he will apply to determine the suitability of potential purchasers.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 13 July 2009
	The decision to sell UKAEA has been motivated by the objective of supporting the continuity of UKAEA Ltd's operations. A sale is expected to provide UKAEA Ltd. with access to the resources that it requires to participate effectively in the forthcoming NDA competitions. The sale process has been opened to all categories of bidder who, inter alia, will need to satisfy the Secretary of State and the NDA with regard to their suitability as an experienced and responsible future owner of the business.

Vocational Training

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which 10 vocational training courses funded by his Department had the lowest participant job entry rate after completion in the last 12 months.

Kevin Brennan: Information on the job entry rate for vocational courses is not available.
	Our VQ reforms are creating a more flexible qualifications and skills system whereby qualifications are closely aligned to the real needs of employers and employers have a real say in what qualifications are needed across occupational areas. Sector skills councils (SSCs) have a key role in developing vocational qualifications based on their sector's needs and will only approve qualifications that fit their skills requirements and, in future, the skills funding agency will only fund those qualifications which SSCs advise them to. Allowing and encouraging employers to get their training accredited onto the new qualifications and credit framework also ensures demand-led qualifications based on employers needs.
	Information on the number of awards of NVQs/SVQs and vocationally related qualification (VRQs) is published in a statistical first release, including information on the subjects with the largest volume of awards. Tables 1 and 2 as follow provide information on the number of NVQ/SVQ and VRQ awards by sector subject area.
	
		
			  Table 1: NVQ/SVQ awards by sector subject area, 2007-08 , coverage UK 
			  Sector subject area  Total awards (000s) 
			 Total UK awards 773.2 
			 Health, public services and care 179.2 
			 Science and mathematics (1)( ) 
			 Agriculture, horticulture and animal care 15.3 
			 Engineering and manufacturing technologies 104.8 
			 Construction, planning and the built environment 106.5 
			 Information and communication technology 28.7 
			 Retail and commercial enterprise 164.0 
			 Leisure, travel and tourism 25.0 
			 Arts, media and publishing 1.6 
			 Languages, literature and culture 2.2 
			 Education and training 16.0 
			 Preparation for life and work 1.2 
			 Business, administration and law 128.5 
			 (1 )Less than 1,000  Note: Numbers may not add up to total due to rounding.  Source: NISVQ 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: VRQ Awards (as reported by participating awarding bodies) by sector subject area, 2007-08, coverage: UK 
			   All VRQ Awards (000s) 
			  Sector subject area  Total awards 
			 Total UK Awards 1,674.2 
			 Health, public services and care 298.7 
			 Science and mathematics 26.2 
			 Agriculture, horticulture and animal care 27.3 
			 Engineering and manufacturing technologies 188.1 
			 Construction, planning and the built environment 127.6 
			 Information and communication technology 292.0 
			 Retail and commercial enterprise 127.7 
			 Leisure, travel and tourism 225.2 
			 Arts, media and publishing 119.4 
			 History, philosophy and theology (1) 
			 Social Sciences (1) 
			 Languages, literature and culture 18.8 
			 Education and training 32.4 
			 Preparation for life and work 42.9 
			 Business, administration and law 147.7 
		
	
	
		
			   Full VRQ awards (000s) 
			  Sector subject area  Total awards 
			 Total UK awards 390.7 
			 Health, public services and care 58.4 
			 Science and mathematics 10.2 
			 Agriculture, horticulture and animal care 12.0 
			 Engineering and manufacturing technologies 53.5 
			 Construction, planning and the built environment 85.6 
			 Information and communication technology 30.6 
			 Retail and commercial enterprise 8.4 
			 Leisure, travel and tourism 43.2 
			 Arts, media and publishing 62.5 
			 Preparation for life and work 1.3 
			 Business, administration and law 25.1 
			 (1) Less than 1,000  Notes:  1. Numbers may not add up to total due to rounding.  2. Numbers of awards are only for those awarding bodies submitting VRQ data to NISVQ.  Source: NISVQ

Yes Loans

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009,  Official Report, column 422W, on Yes loans, when he expects a decision to be made on the renewal of the consumer credit licence for Yes loans.

Kevin Brennan: The OFT carried out a detailed investigation into Yes Loans and its business practices and on 13 July 2009 it imposed multiple requirements on the company to change its behaviour and to cease certain business practices. Any single failure to comply with these requirements, now or in the future, can result in a fine of up to 50,000 per occasion.
	Following the OFT's requirements, which were imposed upon the company, a renewed credit licence will be issued in due course. The exact timing for reissuing Yes Loans licence is a matter for the OFT.